


KillerVibe Fanfic Week 2018

by sssssssim



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, killervibeweek, killervibeweek18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-24 23:47:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14964542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: Event held by@killervibedaily.Prompts: Role Reversal, Undercover Missions, Time Travel, Free Day, Supervillains, Established Relationship, Friends to Lovers.





	1. Role Reversal

**Author's Note:**

> When he started freezing the glasses he was holding, Cisco left Central City without looking back. But a few years later, he sees Vibe on the news and he reckognizes her. He runs back home

Cisco left Star Labs without looking back.

There wasn’t much of Star Labs left, anyway. Everyone who was still alive had done the same as Cisco - they ran away. Wells stayed behind, in a wheelchair and with a dead look in his eyes. Caitlin stayed too, her desperate need to help not leaving her, even after everything that happened.

Cisco thought he would stay. The first weeks after the explosion, he really thought he would stay. As he organized the funeral of his fiancee and as he cried while clearing out all of her things in their apartment, he thought he’d stay at Star Labs in order to keep himself together.

But then things started happening. He started doing things, weird, unexplainable things.

Lowering the temperature in the room. Cooling water in the glass he held in his hand.

Turning the shower stream to ice.

Flashing bright blue eyes.

Cisco freaked out and left. He ran, as far away as he could. He ended up in Maine, renting a tiny cottage in the woods, far away from people. He spent his days learning what he could do, learning how to control these weird powers.

He spent his nights terrified that he’ll accidentally hurt someone. It wouldn’t be hard for him to do that, it would be very easy. His powers were strong, and they were terrifying.

Sometimes, he thought about how it came to happen. He knew it was the particle accelerator explosion, he hypothesized it was the dark matter that was released in the atmosphere.

He didn’t find it in himself to go further with that thought.

How it happened didn’t matter, it just mattered that it did.

◄◆►

The Streak turned up in Central City and Cisco’s world faltered.

The world he created for himself in Maine felt restricting, now., because he wasn’t the only one. He wasn’t the only one who got powers out of the explosion.

For the first time in months, Cisco felt the need to run again. But this time, he felt like running back to Central City.

◄◆►

It took two years and then some.

By that point, Cisco was a proper hermit. He grew his own vegetables and chickens, he only went into town once a month to buy a lot of canned food. He spoke with his mother once a month, no more than 5 minutes. He wore the same jeans for weeks on end, he cut his own hair. He felt awkward and anxious every time he had to interact with other people.

He read the news online, and he would be lying if he said he didn’t pay close attention to the Central City news feed. He especially liked this one blog that focused on the Flash, and it was there where he saw it.

He saw her. Caitlin Snow, standing side by side the Flash, as they were fighting some evil metahuman.

Cisco recognized her, but not a lot of people would have. She was wearing black leather pants, a matching jacket with dark red and gold accents. A big cleavage, with a sparkly choker on her neck. A pair of red boots. Her hair was down in curls, she wore black eye makeup underneath a mask and a dark red lipstick. There were gauntlets on her wrists, but Cisco saw that the beams of whatever it was came from her hands, not from her tech.

Vibe, the blogger called her.

Caitlin looked nothing like herself, nothing like Doctor Snow, in her lab coat and pencil skirts, high heels and hair pinned back in the lab. And yet, he recognized her immediately. His heart shuttered, because whatever her power was, it couldn’t have been easy for her. But she did it, like she always did, she was strong as hell and became a superhero.

He shed a tear, even if Cisco didn’t understand why. He also packed his bags and left that night.

Once again, he never once looked back.

◄◆►

He knew going into Star Labs was going to be painful, but it was worse than he imagined. The moment he lifted his hand to the print scan and the little monitor flashed “Welcome, Mr. Ramon!”, he felt like crying.

He didn’t, though. Somehow, he managed to keep himself in check and get up to the Cortex.

The Flash suit was on display, and so was the Vibe one. They were beautiful, Cisco thought, but they could both do with some improvements.

He turned his eyes to the only person in the Cortex. It wasn’t Caitlin. He didn’t recognize the man, but it was most likely the Flash.  

Cisco cleared his throat and the guy freaked out. He yelped and, without turning around and showing his face, he flashed and put on his suit in less than a second.

‘Who the hell are you? How did you get in?’

‘I still have clearance.’, he said stiffly. ‘Which, really, is an issue Caitlin should have dealt with a long time ago.’

The guy tilted his head at that, curious. ‘You know Caitlin?’

Cisco nodded. ‘Is she here?’

‘Yeah, yeah man, sure.’ The Flash went to one of the computers and, in a mic, asked her to come to the Cortex.

‘Are… are you okay?’, he asked Cisco, clearly hesitating. ‘I mean, do you need help?’

‘Not… really.’

‘So you just wanna say hi to Cait?’

He snorted. ‘I haven’t said hi in over two years.’

The Flash pulled a face. ‘Then why are you here?’

‘I’ll let you know when I figure it out.’

That shut the Flash up for the few minutes it took Caitlin to get to the Cortex. She looked… good. She looked like Cisco remembered. In an office dress with nude high heels, her hair down in soft curls and a pink wash of color on her lips.

When her eyes landed on him, she dropped the tablet she was holding (Flash caught it), she stumbled a few steps back (Flash stopped her from falling) and she looked like she stopped breathing (Flash reminded her to).

Hating himself for it, Cisco felt bitter. When she got her powers, she had the Flash, it was clear they were close. When he got powers, he was alone. It was his doing, though.

He took a deep breath. ‘Hi, Caitlin.’

She snapped out of it and rushed to his side, intend on hugging him. Cisco flinched. He hated the hurt that flashed in her eyes, but he also hated human interaction, these days.

Caitlin got past it. ‘Barry, this is -’

‘Cait!’, the Flash groaned. ‘Secret identity, remember?’

‘It’s fine’, she waved him off, ‘Cisco can keep a secret.’

Reluctantly, Barry flashed out of his suit and back in normal clothes.

‘Barry Allen, this is Cisco Ramon.’

Neither of them reached out a hand to shake.

‘Cisco is an engineer.’, Caitlin went on. ‘He worked on the particle accelerator.’

Immediately, Barry’s eyes narrowed.

‘He left a few weeks after it exploded.’, Caitlin was also watching him, closely. ‘Dropped off the face of the planet, changed his phone number, deleted his email address, the whole nine yards.’

Cisco fought against the guilt in his chest.

‘I needed… space.’

‘I know.’, Caitlin said softly. ‘I know why you left.’

That made him pause. ‘You really don’t.’

‘I do.’, she smiled, too tightly to look comfortable. ‘I guess you saw Vibe in the news and you recognized me?’

He nodded.

‘So you don’t know what my power is.’

Cisco raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. ‘I saw the beams of… power, that come out of your hands, not your gauntlets. And naming yourself Vibe makes me think it has something to do with vibrations.’

There was a small smile on Caitlin’s lips. ‘It’s a long story, but among other things, I get these visions. At first, they were just of other Earths-’, Cisco did a double take on that, but he didn’t interrupt her, ‘but a few weeks ago, I found one of your hoodies in the pipeline. I touched it and I saw you. Freezing over a tree.’

Barry’s eyes grew even wider than Cisco’s. ‘You didn’t tell me you knew him!’, he waved his hands towards Caitlin.

She took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow at him. It calmed Barry down, enough for him to mumble something under his breath and turn back to Cisco.

‘Why are you here?’, Caitlin asked him very gently.

‘I don’t know.’, he admitted.

She tilted her head. ‘You got powers and you ran. You didn’t come back when the Flash turned up. You didn’t come back when Wells died, either.’

He didn’t have an answer. He knew it had everything to do with Caitlin, but he couldn’t put it into words.

‘A lot happened since you left.’, Caitlin finally said. ‘Let’s go get some pizza.’

She reached for him again, and Cisco stepped back. He didn’t say anything, but she did.

‘We’ve got a lot to catch up on. Do you plan on running away again anytime soon?’

Caitlin said it coldly, a snarl barely held back. There was still hurt in her eyes, though.

Cisco shook his head. He didn’t know what he was going to do next, he didn’t know what he wanted to do next, but he knew he won’t drive back to Maine.

‘Alright.’, Caitlin softened, a little, before turning to Barry. ‘Pizza in Coast City?’

He grinned. ‘Sounds good!’

Caitlin grinned back at Barry, before turning to Cisco. She winked, playful as he had never seen her, and then she threw her hand out.

Cisco didn’t scream when a blue vortex appeared in the middle of the room, but it was close. The temperature dropped a couple of degrees, and it was all his doing. He kept control, though.

‘That’s a portal, by the way.’, Barry said. ‘Totally safe, we call it a breach.’ He winked at Cisco before running through it.

‘The pizza really is worth it.’, Caitlin smiled at him.

He couldn’t care less about the pizza, but he walked through the breach.

◄◆►

Everything happened so fast.

It started with a couple of pizzas in Coast City, Caitlin and Barry taking turns bringing Cisco up to speed with what happened since he left. The birth of the Flash, the reveal of Reverse Flash. That one hurt Cisco a surprising amount.

But hearing Caitlin talk about how she discovered her powers, that hurt Cisco more.

He talked, too. Told them everything he knew about his own powers. It wasn’t much.

So the next day, Cisco turned up at Star Labs early in the morning and he let Caitlin poke and prod at him all she wanted. It took a while, but she figured out the fact that his DNA was actively changing every time he frosted. And together, they figured out a way to stop it.

Something always came up. A new villain the Flash needed to stop, a piece of tech Barry needed help on developing. A couple of times, Cisco’s frost was needed.

He didn’t have the time to think about leaving. He didn’t have the time to think about what he wanted to do. He barely had time to think about the fact that he could now call them his friends. Barry, Joe, Iris, Harry, and most of all, Caitlin.

◄◆►

Three months after he came back, Caitlin stumbled in her heels. They were standing side by side in front of the monitors, guiding Barry through the city.

She stumbled in her heels and held onto the thing nearest to her to keep herself upright. She held onto Cisco’s arm.

He was only wearing a t-shirt and her fingers felt incredibly warm against Cisco’s skin. She had never touched him like that before. Never without a reason, never without giving him enough time to prepare for it.

Nothing happened. The temperature didn’t drop, his eyes didn’t flash, nothing turned to ice, his pulse was nice and steady. He didn’t freak out.

‘Sorry.’, Caitlin said around a giggle. She straightened up and took three steps to the side, and then she froze, with her back to Cisco.

Slowly, she turned to face him. Her eyes were wide, clearly shocked.

‘Uh, guys?’, Barry’s confused voice came through.

‘I’m fine.’, Cisco yelped, shaking his head and focusing back on the monitors. ‘Take a right on 5th.’

Caitlin didn’t say anything more, and Cisco didn’t either.

But he thought about it. Late that night, buried under three blankets on his bed, he couldn’t think of anything else but Caitlin, and how good her fingers felt on his skin.

◄◆►

It was an interesting thing, to Cisco.

In the years he spent away, he didn’t crave touch. The mere thought of another person’s skin on his repulsed him, made him feel sick to his stomach.

Now he found himself standing as close to Caitlin as he could, eyes trained on her hands, willing them to touch him.

It was ridiculous. It would have made a lot more sense if this want would have been of a sexual nature, considering he hadn’t slept with anyone in two years. But it wasn’t like that, with Caitlin. It wasn’t like that, at all.

He just wanted a hug. Which was absolutely ridiculous and it didn’t make any sense.

Caitlin was his friend, yes. She has been his friend since the first day he stepped into Star Labs, all those years ago. They’ve been good friends, back then, working on the particle accelerator together, and as Cisco’s fiancee grew closer to Caitlin, so did he. He loved her a lot, like a sister.

He left Central City to keep her safe.

He still loved her, now. He was too afraid to look into how much and in what way.

◄◆►

And then Zoom came around and Cisco didn’t have the time or the power to think about anything.

◄◆►

He didn’t really think about it when Zoom kidnapped Caitlin, but he realized that he didn’t need a hug from Caitlin. He needed her.

He _wanted_ her.

Which just made her not being there all the more terrifying.

◄◆►

‘We’ll get her back.’, Barry told him one day.

‘Yeah, I know.’

Barry dragged a chair and sat down next to Cisco. He also leveled him with a very warm look.

‘So have you always been in love with Caitlin or is this a new development?’

Cisco froze. Not literally, but metaphorically. Barry was still looking softly at him, expectant but not pushing.

‘I mean’, he wrinkled his nose, ‘you’ve been pretty out of it since Zoom took her. You haven’t went home in three days and frankly, you really need a shower. Plus, you do this thing, where you stare longingly at Caitlin’s stuff’, he pointed to the sweater she had left on a chair, ‘and you’ve obviously gotten closer in the past weeks.’

Cisco took a deep breath. ‘I wasn’t in love with Caitlin before, I had a fiancee. We were just very good friends.’

Barry hummed. ‘So this is new.’

Cisco thought about it for a few moments. He really let himself think about it, about her. Barry patiently waited him out.

‘Maybe not.’, he finally said. ‘It feels new but… it also feels like it might have happened if things were different back then.’

‘If you didn’t have a fiancee, you mean.’

He nodded at that, before all his defences fell. Cisco turned to look at Barry with a pretty desperate look.

‘This is ridiculous. I’ve never… Caitlin and I never did… I mean why now? Just cause - it’s been so long and I missed her, sure, but-’

‘Dude, calm down.’, Barry snorted. ‘It’s not… this is not a bad thing.’

‘Isn’t it?’, his voice was too loud. ‘Because Caitlin sure as hell has never looked at me like I’m something other than a friend. And I… Dude. I haven’t done this since… since then.’

‘That, that’s a good reason for hesitation.’, Barry nodded. ‘That first thing, not so much.’

Cisco frowned at that.

‘I’ve known Caitlin for a while, now.’, the Flash was smiling. ‘We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well, in these past years. But since you came to us, there’s been something different about her. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but there was something… new, with Cait. It took me a while to realize that it was you.’

‘Yeah, well, I’m a blast from the past, you didn’t know her before.’

‘Not what I meant.’, Barry smirked. ‘I’ve never seen her interested in a guy before, that’s why I didn’t recognize it.’

Cisco blinked, three times, before he shook his head. ‘You’re wrong.’

‘I’m not.’, Barry smiled wildly.

‘I don’t feel comfortable taking relationship advice from you.’, Cisco glared. ‘I’ve been talking to Iris, you know.’

Barry shrugged, unperturbed. ‘You’ll figure it out. But we do have to find Caitlin, first. Any news on that?’

Cisco took a deep breath and pushed out all the distracting thoughts from his mind. ‘Actually, yeah.’

◄◆►

They got Caitlin back, but there were too many things happening for Cisco to think about it. He was there for her, though. Zoom had clearly hurt her, not in physical ways, but enough to have her really shaken up. She leaned on Barry, a lot, but on Cisco too, even if not physically.

It was okay, he was just glad that she did come to him to talk, that she did stumble into his workshop after she woke up from a nightmare, that she did tell him all the horrible things Zoom said to her.

Cisco tried his very best to help her. He didn’t know if he did much, but Caitlin smiled at him, soft and small.

◄◆►

They almost didn’t make it, they almost lost.

Almost.

The first thing Cisco did once Zoom and the time wraiths were gone was to get himself back to normal. No more flashing eyes, no more icicles on his fingertips.

He turned around, saw Iris and Barry wrapped up in one another, Joe and Wally close by. Harry and Jesse were hugging too.

Caitlin was standing to the side, blinking very slowly.

Cisco ran to her. He barreled into her, wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders. She yelped, loudly, but she also grabbed onto his jacket and once she got her bearings together, Caitlin hugged him back, wrapped her arms around his waist.

He pushed his cheek to her hair and just breathed in for a while.

‘Cisco’, she whispered shakily, ‘you’re hugging me.’

He barely managed to nod.

‘You’re heart’s beating really fast.’, she said next, something confused in her tone.

She was right, though. Cisco’s heart was beating like crazy and it wasn’t because of the usual reasons. It wasn’t because he was scared, Zoom was gone. It wasn’t because he was anxious, he hadn’t felt that way around Caitlin in months.

But his heart was going crazy because of her, because she felt amazing in his arms. He had forgotten how good it was, holding someone, someone so warm, someone he loved so much.

Caitlin was still shaking, a little, but her fingers were digging into his back, and she was holding onto him tightly.

‘Are you okay?’, she whispered, evidently concerned.

‘I didn’t think I’d ever be okay again.’, his words came out in a rush. She moved to let go of him, probably in order to look at Cisco, but he wasn’t strong enough for that, so he tightened his hold on her.

‘When I left, I thought I was going to be alone and miserable, and I was. I really was. But then I saw you on Iris’s blog and I… I just had to see you.’

Cisco took a shaky breath. ‘And then I couldn’t leave you, not again.’

‘I wouldn’t have let you, if you tried it.’, Caitlin said somewhat fiercely. ‘I’m not letting you go again.’

He whimpered, he couldn't help it. His heart was in his chest, strongly fighting to escape and flop itself straight into Caitlin’s hands. So that’s what he did, he helped his heart along.

Quickly, like ripping a bandaid, he moved. Took a miniscule step backwards, moved his hands from her shoulders to her neck, looked into her eyes for a moment, catalogued the surprise there, the excitement and most of all, the fond way she regarded Cisco. Fond, so fond, it made his heart beat even harder.

He kissed her. Slowly and unsure, holding his breath and closing his eyes tightly, Cisco kissed Caitlin.

A sense of calm washed over him. His heart didn’t beat fast anymore, he wasn’t freaking out, the frost wasn’t shimmering under his skin.

Everything settled, inside of Cisco. It wasn’t a long kiss, by any means, and Caitlin didn’t even really kiss him back, she just stopped moving, but Cisco hadn’t felt this good in more than two years.

He broke away and let go of Caitlin entirely.

‘I’m sorry.’, he whispered. ‘I just, I wanted to…’

Cisco couldn’t really go on.

‘Are you okay with me touching you, now?’, Caitlin was very serious.

He nodded, once.

‘Good.’, was all she said, before wrapping her hands around his neck and plastering her body to his, kissing him with a lot more force than he had before.

Cisco didn’t mind it, not at all. He wouldn’t have it any other way, because through the kiss, he could feel the way she felt about him, and it was just as strong and sweet as what he felt.

Even when Wally and Barry started whistling and clapping, Cisco didn’t let go. He won’t ever let go of Caitlin, not if he had a say in it.

◄◆►

Later, years later, Caitlin will tell him that she vibed something when he first kissed her. Herself in a gorgeous white dress, walking down a church aisle to where Cisco was waiting, in a dark navy suit and with his hair in a bun.


	2. Undercover Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to catch their evil metahuman of the week, Caitlin has to infiltrate the house of a... youtuber. It's less weird than she expects it to be, but Cisco is a billion times weirder than he should be. They have to fake being together just so he'd calm down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the weirdest one in the week because I don't know why I decided a youtuber was the way to go?! and I don't know how they ended up at coachella. ... enjoy the fluff, tho.

They argued a long while on whether or not Caitlin or Cisco will be the one to do it, but in the end, she won. Of course she did, she at least knew the difference between a concealer and a foundation and how to keep a calendar. 

The backstory to the situation started with a new metahuman with mind control powers, that would just walk into a bank and politely ask them to open the vault and hand over all the money. Barry couldn’t catch him red handed because nobody in the bank called the police. 

Even if the guy always wore a hood and a mask on his face, Cisco managed to catch sight of him on the cctv cams, and he followed the guy home. His name was John Barnes, and he was married to Elsie Barnes, a very successful youtuber. She had a makeup and beauty channel with a few million subscribers, and they also had a vlog channel, where the couple posted weekly vlogs or travel ones. 

He seemed like a good guy, and it didn’t seem like they needed the money, not judging by the size of the house and of her celebrity status. And yet, he kept robbing banks.

The problem was that they didn’t have any proof, and they needed it to throw him in Iron Heights. 

But Elsie needed an assistant. Basic makeup knowledge, had to know how to work a camera on a basic level, had to have great organisational skills, good fashion sense because attendance at events would be expected, valid passport for traveling purposes. Full time job. Shouldn’t mind doing coffee runs.

Clearly, Caitlin was a better choice over Cisco. And she got the job, easily. 

Elsie was actually nice. Caitlin expected a stuckup woman with illusions of grandeur, but she wasn’t like that, at least not from what she picked up at the job interview.

The boys were worried, but Caitlin knew she could do this. Plus, Cisco developed tech to stop John from controlling her mind, so she wasn’t in too much danger. John might figure out there was something wrong if he did try and get into her head, but after meeting him, Caitlin didn’t think he’d do that. He was a busy man, Elsie said, he had a clothing line and running the company took a lot of his time. He wouldn’t be around too much. It was fine. Plus, Caitlin could frost him pretty quickly. It was fine.

◄◆►

It was not fine.

Caitlin spent up to 12 hours a day at the Barnes’ house. Answering emails, helping Elsie film videos and take pictures. Opening PR packages, keeping a very tight schedule of all of Elsie’s meetings and events. 

And she was away from Star Labs, she missed her team. Even if she talked to them every day, she missed being there, with them.

On the second week of work, she and Elsie worked side by side and organized and decluttered all of her makeup. It was a mess, that needed to be filmed and documented. At the end of it, there were three huge boxes set up for donating (Caitlin was in charge of that, too), two for directly throwing away, and Caitlin had a bag filled with free stuff she got to keep.

Because she was a good friend, she got stuff for Iris, too. So even if it was pretty late, she made her way to Star Labs, knowing the team was still there. Iris got very excited over the free goodies, but Barry and Cisco wasted no time in asking about John.

Honestly, she had no news. Mostly because she had been too busy to even  _ think _ about him, but also because she hadn’t seen him that much. Just twice in the past two weeks, he got home and went straight to bed.

Cisco was angry, surprisingly so. It wasn’t very evident, but Caitlin knew him well and she saw it, the anger and frustration shimmering beneath the surface. It was weird, it was very weird. 

So Caitlin demanded he walk her to her car and once there, she stared him down into submission until he caved.

‘I hate this, okay?’, he all but yelled.

‘I can take care of myself, Cisco.’, her glare was strong.

‘I know that, but I still don’t like it. You’re over there like all the time and-’

‘I text every day.’

‘-and I don’t see you and-’

‘We facetime every other night, Cisco.’

‘-and it feels like you’ve run away again because of Killer Frost-’

‘That’s not what’s happening!’

‘-and I miss you, okay?’

That last part was yelled very loudly, too loudly for the deserted parking lot. Cisco’s yell shut Caitlin up quickly enough. Even he seemed surprised to have said it. 

‘Well I’m not gonna take it back.’, he mumbled. ‘I really miss having you around.’

She couldn’t help but smile, a little. ‘That’s sweet.’

Cisco shrugged.

‘So here’s the thing.’, Caitlin said slowly. ‘Elsie has invites to a Kryolan-’

‘Uh that’s the hair dye thing, right?’

‘-party’, she rolled her eyes, ‘and they’re going to be screening that new zombie movie you were babbling about.’

‘Zombie High - The Movie?’, his eyes grew wide.

‘That’s the one.’, Caitlin nodded. ‘I’m going. And Elsie was kind enough to get extra invites for me and my boyfriend.’

‘You don’t have a boyfriend.’, Cisco blinked. ‘Do you?’

‘I don’t. But if I had one, then he’d come with me to this party. And he could call me during work hours, even facetime me. He could…’, she shrugged, ‘I don’t know, pick me up some nights. Drive me there some mornings. Stuff like that.’

Cisco’s eyes were very wide. He lowered his voice. ‘Are you saying what I think you’re saying?’

‘Yeah.’, Caitlin shrugged, doing her best to act unaffected. ‘Would being my fake boyfriend and coming with me to some dumb party ease your mind?’

‘A little.’, he nodded before grinning. ‘I’ll take it.’

And that was that.

◄◆►

Over the next week, Caitlin started mentioning Cisco to Elsie. Nothing too over the top, just little stuff here and there. Plus, he kept texting her, a lot more than before. And he facetimed her at least once a day, when Elsie was usually there to see it. It did the job, the other woman saying that she couldn’t wait to meet Cisco.

A few days before the event, on facetime, Cisco asked if there was a dress code for the event. His face when Caitlin let him know it was a red carpet was priceless. But the next day she received several selfies that Cisco had taken in a shop, pictures of him trying on various suits and shirts. He asked her to choose one that best matched her dress, which was actually really nice of him.

So come Saturday night, Caitlin was wearing a tight black dress with some intricate cuts on the sides, her hair was up in a complicated braid and she was wearing a dark burgundy lipstick. That color matched Cisco’s suit perfectly.

They both looked good. He had even put his hair up in a sleek ponytail and he was freshly shaven. He also kissed her, swiftly on the lips, when he picked her up. 

‘Elsie’s not here!’, Caitlin managed to stammer, around her shock and blushing cheeks.

It didn’t deter Cisco, he was still grinning wildly. ‘I figured maybe you making this face in front of Elsie wasn’t a good idea.’

She had to give him that, because he was right. If they were to act like they were in a relationship, blushing furiously when he kissed her was not a good thing. So Caitlin took a deep breath, pushed her fingers underneath Cisco’s ponytail, and kissed him. Properly, not just a quick press of lips.

It was a good kiss, actually. She enjoyed it, but tried to push that feeling down, because it had no place being between her and Cisco.

Still, he looked like it threw him off a little, as well. But in true Cisco fashion, he shrugged it off and asked if he had lipstick on his teeth. 

◄◆►

They met Elsie and John at the start of the red carpet. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, Elsie was as sweet as ever and her husband was very polite and not at all evil. Still, when they shook hands, Cisco had a vibe. Nobody else would have noticed it, but Caitlin did.

He didn’t say anything, right then, but there was a slight tightness in his shoulders, and a dark look in his eyes. Neither Elsie nor John noticed it.

As the two of them moved down on the red carpet, having their picture taken and doing interviews, Caitlin and Cisco hung back, away from the cameras.

‘What did you see?’

Cisco smiled at her, all for show, and gently grabbed her hand. ‘I saw him in a bank, getting surprised by a security guard and killing him.’

Caitlin’s eyes grew very wide. 

‘It didn’t happen yet, on this Earth.’, he went on slowly. ‘I don’t know  _ when  _ it will, but i know  _ where. _ ’

She calmed down pretty quickly, because she needed to. ‘Suddenly, this got a lot more real.’

‘Yeah.’, he nodded. ‘But we have other things to worry about tonight.’

Caitlin really wasn’t in the mood for a zombie flick and a lavish party. And yet, that’s what they needed to do.

◄◆►

She really didn’t like the movie. It wasn’t scary, per say, but there was a lot of gore. She had no issues with it, being a doctor and all, but she didn’t enjoy seeing it in films. What even was the point of it, really, why did people get enjoyment out of this?

Cisco grabbed her hand after the first gore scene, and she managed to get through the entire movie without walking out or falling asleep.

The party was a different story, though. Elsie and John were quick to move towards their fellow youtubers and friends, but Caitlin and Cisco didn’t really know anybody there. So they grabbed some food and a lot of drinks and settled at a high table away from the crowd. 

People still came over and said hello to Caitlin. It was very weird, considering she only worked for Elsie in the past month. But she did appear in some of her vlogs, and sometimes in an Instagram video. She thought nothing of it when Elsie asked, she didn’t think of it when she signed emails with  _ Caitlin Snow, assistant _ , but maybe she should have, considering she was now chatting with the Kryolan PR manager and Cisco was looking very weirdly at her. 

‘You fit right in.’, he said gently when they were alone again. 

Caitlin shrugged. ‘I can fake it, that doesn’t mean I like it.’

‘If you say so.’

She elbowed him in the stomach. Then, because she noticed John looking their way, she kissed Cisco too. 

He hummed, in content. ‘I could get used to this.’

Caitlin bit on her lip to keep herself from saying something, because she didn’t know exactly what she would have said. Either way, between ‘Me too’, or ‘Don’t’, it wouldn’t have ended well.

◄◆►

As the party died down, Elsie and John migrated to their table. Nothing was out of the ordinary, as they chatted easily. But then, when asked what he did for a living, Cisco said he works with metahumans, at Star Labs with the Flash, and as a consultant to the CCPD. John visibly changed then, he grew quiet and it didn’t take long for him to suggest heading home.

‘Maybe you shouldn’t have done that.’, Caitlin leveled Cisco with a look.

‘If it gets you out of there faster, then yes, yes I should have.’

She sighed. 

◄◆►

John was around a lot more, after that. It wasn’t that he did anything wrong, he wasn’t anything but kind and funny, but Caitlin did see a lot more of him. But he wasn’t stealing money anymore, there weren’t any banks getting robbed by a mind controlling metahuman.

Cisco hadn’t managed to find out when the murder will happen, he just knew it will happen in a bank on 5th. 

They weren’t making any leeway in getting evidence to put John in jail. So, of course, Cisco devised a plan. He made a microtracker, something very small that could be put in the back of John’s phone without him noticing. 

Caitlin tried for a few days to get her hands on the phone and put it there without John noticing, but she didn’t manage it.

And then came the Coachella email. Not only did Elsie get an invitation for her and John, but so did Caitlin and Cisco. 

A festival like Coachella was really not her and Cisco’s type of thing to do, but the makeup company who invited them was offering to pay for the flights, a very fancy hotel and full access to the festival, as well as several parties through its duration. 

Caitlin had heard about half of the singers and bands performing. She listened to less than a quarter of them. But she was on a mission, to catch a metahuman before he hurt someone. So she said yes without even consulting Cisco. 

When she did tell him, later that night after he picked her up from Elsie’s, Cisco screamed in excitement. Coachella was on his bucket list, apparently. 

◄◆►

The flight was okay. They shared a few kisses, held hands and slept on each other’s shoulders.

They got to the hotel and that was okay, too. Even if they had to share a bed, neither of them made it weird. It was a very luxurious hotel, really, and they were both set on enjoying it.

That first night, they went out for dinner with Elsie and John and it was okay. It was actually fun, Caitlin did like Elsie and John was a funny person, if you ignored the evil metahuman part. Cisco didn’t ignore that and somehow, managed to plant the tracker.

The mission was a success, but they still had a full weekend to go through. That turned out to not be as okay.

◄◆►

On Friday morning, Cisco froze when he came out of the bathroom and saw Caitlin ready to go.

She was wearing pink shorts and a tiny white tank top, her pink bra visible underneath. She also had her hair up in two buns and a lot of glitter on her face, chest and arms. 

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much of your skin.’, Cisco said a bit breathlessly.

Caitlin rolled her eyes. ‘You saw me in a bikini.’

‘Yet somehow, this is different.’

‘I look great, shut up.’

‘You look amazing.’, he nodded. ‘I’m just saying, it’s gonna take some getting used to.’

She eyed him. Cisco was wearing a pair of white jeans that stopped at his knees and had several artsy holes in them, and a shirt with a cute grinning sun that said  _ Beam me up, Sunny! _ But the shirt was a little tight on him, and his hair was up in a messy bun and Caitlin gulped.

‘You look good, too. Now come on, we’re meeting Elsie and John in the lobby.’

Caitlin did enjoy herself, that first day. They went to a brunch party, and a dinner one, and spent the time in between listening to music, eating junk food and just goofing around. Cisco and her held hands, a lot, kissed a few times, when Caitlin made a good joke or when a song she liked was playing.

Her and Cisco both were too tired, come night, to even feel awkward about getting together in bed.

◄◆►

The second day was spend in the same manner, but with one major difference: Cisco couldn’t seem to be able to keep his hands off her.

She didn’t know what it was, if it was the blue summer dress she wore, or the fact that Elsie kept a running commentary of how much of an adorable couple they were, but Cisco had his hands on her all day.

Caitlin didn’t really mind it. Damn it, she found herself loving it.

That night, in bed, Cisco grabbed her hand. He didn’t say anything, and she didn’t either, but she held onto his fingers as she got comfortable and fell asleep.

◄◆►

Sunday found Caitlin in gold sequined shorts and a Flash tank top, paired with a very bright red lipstick and matching body glitter. Cisco laughed for a really long time, and he kept laughing as he kissed her sweetly. They were all alone in their hotel room, and Caitlin didn’t say anything about it.

Throughout the day, Cisco kept taking pictures and videos of her, sending some to Barry, no doubt. He still kept his hands all but glued to her, and he still kissed her when Elsie and John were around, but he also kissed her when they weren’t there. 

They went to a very big party that night, organized close to one of the stages, so they heard that music. Caitlin didn’t know any of the bands, but she had fun nonetheless. They all did. Come 3AM, they were all various levels of drunk. The guys were very drunk, the girls were very tipsy.

At one point, Caitlin ended up dancing with John, as Cisco made a fool out of himself with Elsie.

‘You’re special.’, John yelled in her ear. ‘My powers don’t work on you.’

Her self defense mechanisms kicked in instantly. So she played dumb, laughed.

‘What powers?’

John laughed too, but he also grabbed a hold of her upper arm. He wasn’t hurting her, but it was a strong hold.

‘You know.’, he smiled at her. It looked evil. ‘You know and that’s why you’re here.’

‘I really have no idea what you’re talking about.’

She must have acted really well, or he might have been too drunk, because John rolled his eyes and pushed her away. 

Cisco was there a second later. ‘What was that about?’

‘He knows I know, but I don’t think he figured out who I am.’

‘Shit.’, was Cisco’s prompt response. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

He didn’t wait for her to answer, just grabbed her hand, waved cheerily to Elsie and John and did not let go of her until they were back in the hotel room.

◄◆►

He was a lot more drunk that Caitlin realized, because as soon as she got next to him in bed, Cisco kissed her, and he kissed her hard. 

It took a couple of breathless moments for Caitlin to push him away, and she only did it when he tried to sneak a hand under her top.

Cisco whined, but he did stop the kiss and got his hands back under control.

‘I can’t do this.’, he pushed his face into the crook of her neck. ‘I can’t go back to not holding you, not touching you, not kissing you. Not now, that I know what it’s like. I can’t go back to ignoring my feelings.’

Caitlin gulped, because he had just admitted something. Something big, something astronomical, something she had thought of before, but never once dared to pursue.

But he was also drunk and not thinking clearly.

‘We’ll talk about it tomorrow.’, Caitlin said gently. ‘I promise we’ll talk about it once we’re back home.’

Cisco nodded a few times, gently kissed the skin on her neck and quickly fell asleep.

Caitlin spent most of the night awake, trying to figure out if what she was feeling was just a side effect of the moment, or if she actually wanted to be with Cisco.

◄◆►

They didn’t talk about it.

Life went back to normal once they got back to Central City. She went back to working for Elsie, John went back to working a lot of hours, Cisco went back to texting and facetiming her, acting like he was the best boyfriend.

Caitlin hated that it was fake. She wanted it to be real.

She didn’t say anything.

◄◆►

It was 2AM on a Wednesday when Cisco called her.

‘John is on his way to the bank.’

‘What, now? It’s the middle of the night!’

‘I don’t know, he’s been there twice in the past week without using his powers. Come on, get dressed, I’ll pick you up in five minutes.’

He didn’t wait for her to answer before hanging up. Caitlin took a deep breath and got dressed.

◄◆►

Caitlin felt a punch to the gut when they got there and saw Elsie melting a hole in the bank vault with lasers coming from her eyes, as John kept watch.

But she didn’t hesitate in freezing the opening back shut.

They fought, but not for long. John’s powers didn’t work on them because of Cisco’s tech, and between Flash, Vibe and Killer Frost, Elsie was easy to incapacitate.

‘I knew it.’, John sneered at Caitlin. ‘I knew there was something wrong with you.’

‘At least I’m not robbing banks for the fun of it.’

‘You bitch!’, Elsie spat at her. ‘I let you into my home, into my life, and-’

‘Oh shut the hell up.’, Cisco rolled his eyes.

He quickly opened a breach and Barry pushed them through it, Caitlin knew that it took them straight to Iron Heights.

Cisco turned to look at her, smiling a little as he opened another breach.

‘See you tomorrow?’

She nodded, and tried her best to push down her disappointed as she stepped into the breach, to her living room.

◄◆►

By morning, Caitlin had reached a decision. It was a little crazy, maybe, a lot out of character for her, but it was also something she knew would be a good thing, in the long run. She felt very good about it, nervous but also excited.

She also felt good walking back into Star Labs, knowing she will spend the day with the team, working in the Cortex.

Cisco and Barry were already there, of course, Iris was probably on her way. 

Caitlin was smiling wildly as she made her way into the Cortex. Barry returned the manic smile, hugging her tightly and welcoming her back. But once she was done with him, she went to Cisco’s side.

He was working on something, typing away quickly, fully immersed in his work to the point that he barely noticed his surroundings. Typical Cisco. 

Still, he waved at her. Didn’t turn around to see her, but took one hand away from the keyboard, briefly, and said an emotionless ‘Morning, Caitlin!’.

That wouldn’t do.

Without second guessing it, Caitlin made her way to his side, gently running her fingers from his shoulder to the back of the neck. Of course, it made him look up. Well, he still pressed a couple of keys, but he did stop and look at her.

There was no expression on his face, no confusion or surprise, mostly because his brain was still locked on whatever he was working on. But he did tilt his head back and look up at her. 

Caitlin didn’t hesitate. She grabbed Cisco’s neck a little more firmly and kissed him gently. Not too long, but long enough for him to close his eyes and humm under his breath, a gentle humm he always made on the first kiss of the day. She knew that little piece of information, now, and she planned on taking advantage of it.

When she pulled back, Cisco was smiling, a little. She saw the exact moment he realized what happened, because his eyes grew very wide and he took a deep breath, holding it in.

Caitlin felt herself blushing, but she also smiled. ‘We were so good at faking it, I figured we should give it a shot for real?’

‘You figured?’, Cisco frowned. 

‘I figured I wanted to.’, she admitted. 

‘Okay.’, Cisco breathed out quickly, before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. But he smiled, afterwards. ‘Alright, that sounds… great.’

Caitlin chuckled. She kissed him again, a quick peck, before she urged him to go back to work, about to do the same herself.

When she turned around to start walking to the hallway, she had to stop and laugh her heart out. Because Barry, who she had completely forgot was there, he was standing in a corner, frozen in place. His eyes were wide, he had an idiotic looking smile on his face and his hands were on his cheeks. 

‘You dumb-dumb.’, she wheezed at him, between her laughter.

‘You’re so cute!’, Barry yelped, smushing his own cheeks. ‘So cute, oh gosh!’

‘Dude!’, Cisco said gravely. ‘Shut up!;’

Barry stopped his attack on his cheeks and moved both of his hands over his face. There was a lot of fondness in his eyes, and it was absolutely ridiculous. Lovely, but ridiculous.

Caitlin laughed all the way to her lab.


	3. Time Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1881, Salvation, Dakota Territory, United States. Not the best place to hide from a villain that wanted to hurt you, but it wasn't like Caitlin and Cisco had any choice in the matter.

Cisco couldn’t help but think that every year, the villains going after the Flash got worse and worse. Was DeVoe worse than Savitar? Yup. Was Savitar worse than Zoom? Yup. Was Zoom worse than Reverse Flash? Yup.

Was Brother Grimm worse than all of the above? He sure was.

Not just because the dude came from another dimension, or because he had some serious magic, not just because he could somehow sense the Speed Force and Barry had to not use speed when they were fighting, no, those weren’t the worst thing.

The worst thing was that Brother Grimm wasn’t after Barry, he was after Caitlin.

◄◆►

Caitlin met Cliff Grimm in med school. They got along well, studied together and partnered up when needed, but they weren’t even really friends, let alone more than that. She was pretty adamant about the fact, even if Grimm was now desperately in love with her and wanted her.

Wanted her badly, by the looks of things, in a really bad, evil, disturbing kind of way. The _If I can’t have you, no one can_ way.

Cisco felt sick to his stomach.

Grimm was, also, mad at Caitlin. Apparently, in their last semester of school, she had gotten close to a guy she shared some classes with. It wasn’t serious, Caitlin said, they just made out at a couple of parties, but Grimm did not know that.

He dropped out of school and off the face of the Earth before graduating, and Caitlin hadn’t even thought she had something to do with it.

But she did, Grimm made that perfectly clear. He went back to his world, got more power, more powerful, as powerful as he could. And now, he was back on Earth 1, willing to do anything and everything to get Caitlin by his side.

Cisco really wanted to throw up. Constantly.

He also didn’t leave Caitlin out of his sight in the past months. He all but moved into her apartment and when they weren’t together, then she was with Barry. She kept saying that they were exaggerating, that she could take care of herself, but she didn’t really stop them from fussing over her.

And in the end, they really weren’t exaggerating.

◄◆►

Despite their efforts, Grimm got to Caitlin. Cisco got a nasty wound on his head and a mild concussion, but that didn’t stop him.

By nothing short of a miracle, together with Barry and Ralph, they got Caitlin back, just as Grimm was about to destroy the city. Why did he want to do that? Why not, really? This was just their life.

Barry picked both Cisco and Caitlin up and started running. Which, really, how? The guy didn’t have super strength. But he did it, and the Flash ran, and ran and ran and ran fast and Cisco felt something terribly uncomfortable travel down his spine and he had to close his eyes. He screamed, maybe.

When he opened his eyes, he was sprawled in dirt, in a dusty, dry field.

‘I’ll come back for you!’, Barry was saying.

‘No, Barry, don’t-’, Caitlin was holding onto his hand.

‘Guys, I promise, I’ll come back. Just lay low, I’ll come get you as soon as I can.’

With a fugitive look thrown Cisco’s way, Barry left in a flash of lighting.

Caitlin all but collapsed next to him.

‘Are you hurt?’, he asked.

She shook her head, looking at him, raising her hand and pushing it gently to his head wound. Her fingers came out red.

‘I’m fine.’, he was quick to say.

Caitlin started crying.

◄◆►

An hour later, they heard horse hooves. Three men and their horses made their way to their side, and looking at them, Cisco felt as though he was in an old western.

They were in 1881. In Dakota. A few miles away from a town called Salvation.

The men gave them clothes. They gave them some food and water and pointed them in the right direction to the town.

Wordlessly, Cisco and Caitlin started walking.

◄◆►

As soon as they stepped into town, the police came running (or whatever you called law enforcement in this time period, Cisco had no idea). They were thrown in a jail cell without a chance of explaining themselves, and that’s where they spent the first night.

Come morning, the Sheriff came and actually talked to them. His name was Jonah Hex and half of his face was burned off. But he wasn’t terribly rude, Cisco thought. He explained, that Salvation was a small town where people took care of each other, and that they’ve had some bad experiences with outsiders.

Caitlin had more presence of mind than Cisco did. She made up a story, about how Cisco was a slave from a place way down South, and that he had been freed after the war. He had been in service to her family, but her parents were dead now and their home was destroyed, so they left together, in search for a new life.

Hex was suspicious, still.

She went on, saying that they could pull their weight. About how she knew medicine, but assured Hex that they were both willing to trade any sort of work for food and shelter.

‘You’re in luck.’, Hex finally said. ‘Our doctor passed away last month.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’, Caitlin said, fully meaning it.

‘You’ll take his place, but I’m going to keep a close eye on you. I know you’re lying.’

‘We’re not-’

‘Save it.’, Hex waved his hand. ‘I know you’re lying, but I also know you’re not here to hurt us. So you’ll work in the doc’s old place. The work won’t be easy and’, he snorted, ‘the pay is shit. But there’s a room you can sleep in and you can keep all the doc’s old things. I’ll have one of my men show you around.’

‘Thank you.’, Caitlin breathed out.

Hex shook his head. ‘One wrong move, and you’re out of here.’

‘We get it.’, Cisco said strongly. ‘It won’t happen.’

‘What should we call you?’

‘I’m Caitlin Snow, this is Cisco Ramon.’

Hex looked between them for a long while. ‘Those are some weird names.’

‘They’re exotic.’, Cisco tried.

The other man glared at him. ‘Snow and Ramon, that’ll do. Now come on, you have work to do.’

◄◆►

The doctor’s house was almost large enough.

It was on the main road in town, between the food store and the Sheriff’s station and it had three rooms. From the main entrance, it had a small waiting room that had two chairs, a desk, and a small filing cabinet, and a larger room, that had a bed, another desk, and a large bookcase. There were few books, a lot of jars, some instruments. There was also a tub in a corner of the room, and it had running water. It was cold and it was a very rudimentary system, but it was there.

There was a second entrance into the house, from the back. There was a small kitchen and a bathroom, with no running water but there was a well in the backyard. There was also a larger room, with a bed pushed into the corner, large enough to fit two people, a dresser, a set of drawers and a desk.

‘I’m going to need to move the desk into the lab.’, was the first thing Caitlin said.

‘We really shouldn’t be calling that dump a lab.’, Cisco sighed. ‘We’re gonna… Shit, Caitlin. We’re going to have to be very careful of whatever we say and everything we do, because we can’t change the timeline.’

She nodded at that. It wasn’t much, and her bottom lip was quivering.

‘Hey.’, Cisco went to her side. ‘Barry’s going to come back for us. We just have to… wait it out.’

‘Barry’s always late.’, Caitlin said in a low voice.

‘Yeah, but he always gets there.’

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. ‘I don’t know how, but we’re going to need to deep clean everything in the lab.’

‘Office.’, Cisco knocked their shoulders together. ‘Doctor’s office. That sounds better.’

‘Fine, office. But just because you named it doesn’t mean you’ll get out of cleaning it.’

‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’, he snorted.

Even if they were away from Grimm, Cisco didn’t feel like letting Caitlin out of his sight, not just yet.

◄◆►

Their biggest problem was the lack of… everything. They were in 1881, but Cisco felt like they were in the stone age.

Caitlin had it worse than him. While Cisco missed his electric razor and the ability to google something, she had to do medicine without any of the drugs and instruments she knew. She improvised, a whole lot.

With the money they got the first week (Hex delivered it personally and it wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to get the two of them food and still have a little left over), Caitlin got a distillation machine and she learned how to make alcohol, to clean wounds with. She also had Cisco make an oven on the back porch, which she used to sterilize the little equipment she had.

Every free moment she had that first week, she went through the books the old doctor had. Thankfully, he had been an anal sort of man, so he had a few notebooks filled with different procedures he did, with every plant in his jar collection and what they could be used for. Caitlin was quick to learn them.

Honestly, the people who came to see her didn’t have many issues. There were a few pregnant woman, a couple of cuts, a broken arm or two. Caitlin did the doctoring, Cisco kept the books. Again, the former doctor’s anal side was helpful, because he had kept patient charts for everyone, so it was easy for Cisco to work on them.

Not a lot of people payed them money, but everyone who crossed the doctor’s threshold bought something. Usually, it was food. After they figured out the new doctor was a woman, sometimes they brought materials for clothes or home made soap or stuff like that.

Honestly, both Caitlin and Cisco got used to it pretty quickly. It wasn’t like they had another choice, but they got comfortable enough with living in a western.

They worked the day away, in the office and around the house. They cleaned, they learned how to cook, they sewed clothes and reorganized the house to their liking and needs. Every night, they went to bed early, tired to their bones. It was awkward only for the first couple of days, but even with sharing a bed, they got comfortable pretty easily.

People around town didn’t get comfortable with them, though. They found it weird, having a woman doctor. They didn’t like that Caitlin didn’t wear puffy dresses, but loose pants and sleeveless tops. They weren’t used to the color of Cisco’s skin, so they didn’t like it. They didn’t like that Caitlin and Cisco weren’t married and lived together. They didn’t like that they were outsiders.

Hex was the only one who didn’t act weirdly with them. He came over at least once a week, sometimes through the front office, sometimes banging on the back door. Sometimes, he brought some booze, other times he ate whatever they cooked that day. He didn’t talk too much, but he listened to whatever Cisco and Caitlin were saying. They asked things, Hex was the only one in town that they could ask about things, be it where to buy nails or why did the lady at the food market threatened to cut off Caitlin’s hair. And he always answered.

He was a weird man, Cisco had to admit. He never talked about what happened to his face, no matter how much Caitlin asked, but he was trying to make their stay better. Cisco had a feeling Hex knew a lot more than he let on, but he didn’t think it would be a good idea to ask.

So that was how they waited. In a town called Salvation, they waited for Barry to come back and save them. The irony was not lost on Cisco.

◄◆►

They’ve been there for three and a half weeks when Caitlin broke down.

Before sunrise that day, a guy from town woke them up, saying that his wife was giving birth. Caitlin was up and awake in a second, and she started yelling orders to Cisco.

He followed along, obviously. He did what she asked, he followed her to the house, he washed up side by side her and together, they went into the bedroom the crying was coming from. Grown woman crying, not baby crying.

The mother to be was in serious pain, and throughout the ordeal, she screamed a lot. She was in labour for 16 hours, and Caitlin kept making tea after tea with pain relieving plants, but it wasn’t even in the same universe as an epidural.

It was a horrible thing to watch. Honestly, Cisco’s hands shook through everything. Still, he helped Caitlin in every and any way she asked. ‘Get me another towel.’, ‘Tie my hair up.’, ‘Wipe that blood.’, ‘Take the husband for a walk.’, ‘Cut the umbilical cord’. Cisco did all of it, and he felt like crying through it.

Caitlin, though. She didn’t waver, not once. She didn’t have painkillers, an ultrasound machine, gloves, scalpels. Fuck, the stethoscope she used didn’t even have earbuds yet. But she managed it. She took what she had and worked with it, like a boss.

The baby cried as soon as she was out into the world. She was healthy, Caitlin said after she cleaned and examined the little girl. The mother was doing well, too. She was struggling to keep awake, but she was alive, which Cisco knew didn’t happen that often.

When they got back to the house, Caitlin drew herself a bath and spent a lot of time in it. Meanwhile, Cisco cooked. They ate in silence, got ready for bed.

Caitlin made it to the middle of the bed before she stopped. She just stopped moving, freezing in place before collapsing. Cisco really thought she fainted, and he ran to her side, calling her name and shaking her shoulders.

She hadn’t fainted, but she was crying. Sobbing, really.

‘Are you hurt?’, he asked desperately.

Caitlin shook her head, tried saying something but didn’t manage it. He realized it was a meltdown, and he realized he should have seen it coming. And then he realized he had started crying too, and it said a lot, really, of the state he was in, considering he didn’t even see his own meltdown coming.

He sat down on the bed next to Caitlin and as gently as he could, he pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms and legs tightly around her. As she shook in his hold, Cisco let himself cry, as well.

It wasn’t just the long day they’ve had, all the work they did to deliver that little baby girl. It wasn’t just exhaustion, it wasn’t just the fact that they missed their laptops and microwaves, it wasn’t just the fact that they missed home and their friends. It wasn’t just the fact that they were stranded.

It was the fact that they didn’t know when Barry would come back for them.

Even if they haven’t discussed it, Cisco was sure they both thought of it. Barry could travel through time, he could have made his way back to them five minutes after he left. Why hasn't he done that? The possible answers were terrifying.

‘I miss tacos. And fries.’, Cisco admitted in a whisper.

It made Caitlin chuckle, a little. ‘Ice cream.’

He hummed at that. ‘Electric razor.’

‘Any razor.’, she quickly countered. ‘And tampons.’

Cisco winced at that. ‘Hair conditioner.’

‘My Clarisonic. And concealer.’

‘Ipod.’, he went on. ‘Ipad.’

‘Prosecco.’

He snorted. ‘Tequila.’

‘Gel pens. Jeans.’

‘Sneakers.’, Cisco said quickly. ‘And briefs.’

There was a pause. ‘I can live without bras.’

Caitlin wasn’t sobbing anymore. She was still crying, but at least she was breathing properly.

‘Barry.’, she said in a whisper. ‘Iris, Joe. Even Ralph.’

‘Even Ralph.’, Cisco admitted.

She took a deep breath and her body shook. ‘Cisco. I really wanna go home.’

‘I know.’, he pushed his lips to her forehead. ‘Barry will come back, you know he will.’

‘But-’

‘No.’, he said as strongly as he could. ‘We have to trust Barry. We’ve always trusted him, and he always delivered. We have to trust he’ll come back for us.’

‘I don’t know if I can do this.’

She said it so low, Cisco barely heard it. But he did, and he let go of her. Just enough to be able to look at her, really see her face and eyes. She looked like a mess, and there was a lot of pain in her eyes, and a sort of desperation he had seen before, and hated seeing.

Taking a deep breath, Cisco gently grabbed Caitlin’s cheeks, forcing her to look into his eyes. She did so, absently wrapping her fingers around his wrists.

‘You delivered a baby today, with just your hands, some warm water and a bonafide gardening tool. Caitlin, there’s nothing that you can’t do. Spending some time in the 1800s is nothing.’

She closed her eyes at that, but she also turned her head a little in his hold, pressing a very soft kiss to Cisco’s palm.

‘And you’ll be here.’

‘There’s also that, yeah.’, he couldn’t help but grin. ‘I’ll totally be here to have a synchronized breakdown next time you feel like it.’

Of course, she scrunched up her nose at that, which was too adorable for Cisco to handle, considering they were so close. He kissed her nose and fell back against the bed, bringing her with him. That night, they fell asleep tangled together.

◄◆►

Hex turned up just as the sun was setting down the next day, and he all but dragged them to the saloon. Apparently, the parents were celebrating the birth of their little girl, and they were expected.

Caitlin winced really badly when she saw that both the mother and the baby were in the saloon.

‘They should be in a hospital for at least three days after birth.’, she told Cisco.

He shrugged. ‘They shouldn’t, cause that’s not a trend now. You gotta work with what you got.’

Of course, Caitlin went straight to their side, probably set on asking the mother a lot of follow up questions.

Hex was looking at Cisco with a very particular expression. ‘You say the weirdest things, sometimes.’

Cisco went back through what he just said, and he snorted. ‘That really wasn’t that bad. Now, do I get something free to drink, or?’

He got something free to drink. It was strong as hell and tasted like ass.

Both him and Caitlin were pretty hammered when they got to the house that night. They didn’t even realize they fell asleep cuddling.

◄◆►

The attitude of the people of Salvation (Salvationers? Salvationees?) changed towards Snow and Ramon from that day on. It was good, that not everyone was staring and glaring at them, that they actually got a greeting back when they stepped into the shop and that people weren’t afraid of stepping into the doctor’s office.

It was nice, and it improved their quality of life, but it didn’t make them miss home any less.

◄◆►

After three months, Cisco asked Caitlin to cut his hair. Not all of it, but the split ends were getting ridiculous.

They got a dog. Well, it was more like a stray dog kept sleeping on the back porch and Cisco started feeding it as Caitlin started petting it. They called him Lucky after the day when Caitlin almost accidentally dropped a pot of boiling water over him, but the dog somehow managed to get out of the way.

Caitlin sometimes borrowed the knife Cisco used to shave, and for the next three days, she smiled a little more.

Hex still came by once a week, but sometimes, he dragged them to the saloon.

The tailor’s daughter started calling them Mister and Misses Snow.

Sometimes, Cisco was called around town to fix things. An oven, a gun, a piece of machinery in the wagon repair shop.

Caitlin brought a dress. It was light blue and it took 10 full minutes to put on, but she looked pretty amazing in it.

They got really good at making baked vegetables.

Every night, they fell asleep cuddling.

◄◆►

The first time Caitlin lost a patient, Cisco wasn’t there.

He was at the bank for the day, fixing up doors and locks. When he got back to the house, Caitlin wasn’t in the office and Hex was drinking alone at the kitchen table.

‘There wasn’t anything she could have done.’, Hex explained. ‘The man was old and he should have gone years ago.’

Cisco shook his head. ‘Where is she?’

‘Bedroom.’ Hex got up and drowned his drink in one go. ‘I’ll see myself out.’

Caitlin wasn’t crying, but she was lying in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Cisco didn’t say anything, he just laid down next to her and grabbed a hold of her hand.

It took a few minutes. Caitlin still didn’t cry, but she turned around and got closer, until half of her body was all but sprawled over Cisco’s.

‘I’m okay.’, she whispered.

‘Yeah, right.’ Cisco wrapped his arms around her tightly. ‘You’ll _be_ okay, though.’

She nodded and they just stayed like that for a while.

‘You stink.’, Caitlin was the first to break the silence. ‘I’ll draw you a bath.’

‘Just what a man wants to hear when he gets home, thank you.’

She frowned at that, getting up a little so that she could look at him.

‘Don’t… Cisco, don’t start calling this place home.’

‘I didn’t.’, he said after a beat. ‘It was just a figure of speech.’

‘Don’t, not even like that.’

‘Well what if I meant you, huh?’, he tried to lighten the mood. ‘What if you’re home?’

Caitlin rolled her eyes, called him a cheeseball and went to set up his bath.

◄◆►

They’ve been in Salvation for almost 5 months when Hex brought a large bottle of whisky to his weekly visit. Caitlin was still washing up after the work day, so it was just him and Cisco in the kitchen.

He didn’t even notice it, at first.

It was only the second time he grabbed the bottle did Cisco notice that he was holding a bottle of Jack Daniels. His heart stopped in his chest, but he tried his best to center himself.

He acted as normal as he could and for the first time in months, Cisco vibed. He saw a 7-11 in Star City and a woman’s hand grabbing the whisky. He didn’t…. He couldn’t really focus on the vibe, he was too shocked for it, so he couldn’t make out who the hand belonged to.

Caitlin came into the kitchen. She smiled at Hex, as she usually did. She patted Cisco’s shoulder in passing, as she usually did. She sat down at the table and poured herself a little bit of whisky, as she usually did.

‘Hey, Caitlin.’, Cisco said slowly. ‘What year is this whisky from?’

She paid no mind as she checked the label. ‘2013.’

Hex’s eyes grew very wide, he clearly realized his mistake. Caitlin took a second more to realize what it meant.

‘Where did you get this bottle?’, she turned to stare at Hex.

He said nothing.

‘Please.’, her voice shook. ‘Please, Hex, where did you get this bottle from?’

‘It was a gift from a friend.’

‘What friend?’, Cisco said strongly.

Hex looked to him, unmoving. ‘I ain’t telling you nothing. Not until you tell me.’

Cisco took a deep breath and a long drag of whisky.

‘We’re from the year 2018. An evil guy with superpowers was after us, so a friend time traveled us here, away from the evil. We’ve been waiting for him to come back.’

Hex tilted his head. ‘So this friend of yours also has superpowers. Do you?’

Cisco hesitated, but Caitlin didn’t, she iced the cup in her hand. Cisco threw his hand out and vibrated at the needed frequency to shatter it to pieces.

Hex didn’t flinch, and that said a lot.

‘Don’t make us threaten you, Hex.’ Caitlin said gently. ‘We do actually like you. So please tell us who the hell gave you alcohol from the future?’

Hex took a deep breath. ‘Her name is Sara Lance.’

‘You know the Legends?’, Caitlin yelled.

‘Do you have any way to contact her?’, Cisco yelped.

Somehow, their hands found themselves on the table.

‘How do you know the Legends?’, Hex asked slowly.

‘We’ll tell you, if you tell us.’, Cisco promised.

So they spent the next hours listening to Hex tell his story, with Rip Hunter and the Legends, and then they spent the next hours telling their stories with the Legends.

‘Do you have any way of contacting the Waverider?’, Cisco asked when the sun was starting to come up.

‘Not really, but there are ways that have worked before. I’ve been trying since you two came to town.’

Caitlin hid her face behind her hands. ‘I just want to go home.’, she whispered.

Cisco didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her.

‘We have two chances, now. Either Barry comes back, or the Waverider gets Hex’s messages. This is good, Caitlin.’

That didn’t stop her from crying.

◄◆►

It’s not like things got better, after that. But their evenings spent with Hex got a lot more entertaining, now that both sides knew the truth and they didn’t have to censor themselves.

Hex liked to hear about the future. However simple the story, however basic the concept, he got a spark of excitement in his eyes that Cisco had never seen there.

‘It helps.’, Caitlin admitted late one night. ‘Telling Hex all these stories, it helps.’

‘Me too.’, Cisco nodded. ‘It’s good to remember what we’ve got waiting for us home. And you know, who’s fighting to get us back.’

She didn’t answer anything, but she did kiss his cheek before she fell asleep.

◄◆►

On the six month anniversary of their exile in Salvation, Caitlin kissed him.

Before going to sleep, she pushed her lips to Cisco’s, firm and short. She said nothing about it, and neither did Cisco. He didn’t find the strength needed.

Caitlin fell asleep, before Cisco did.

For the next two weeks, neither of them mentioned the kiss, acting like it didn’t happen, like it didn’t matter, lying in their silence.

◄◆►

It was weird, for one of the Sheriff’s men to come and get them and say that they didn’t need the doc’s bag. It was extra weird when they were taken to the saloon.

Being the middle of the day, it was mostly empty. But at the bar, next to Hex, were Wally West and Sara Lance. As Cisco stared, incredulous, he heard Caitlin gasp by his side.

Then she was running, throwing herself straight into Wally’s arms. He caught her, sure, but he was very surprised. Caitlin was crying, Cisco was sure, and honestly, so was he. Still, he made his way to Sara’s side and grabbed her hands, kissing them.

‘Geesh, guys. How long have you been here?’, Sara asked, incredulously.

‘Six months.’, Hex said lowly. ‘They’ve been here six months and a half.’

Sara swore, loud and filthy, and then she hugged Cisco very, very tightly.

‘Come on. We’re taking you home.’

◄◆►

Caitlin and Cisco did not stop crying.

As they said goodbye to Hex and thanked him for everything, as they got on the Waverider and met the rest of the Legends, as they spent some time in the med bay, Gideon pumping them with antibiotics and vitamins.

Cisco didn’t know about Caitlin, but he sure as hell didn’t stop crying as he showered, as he put on jeans and a plaid shirt. But, she was crying as she got out of the shower.

When they got to Star Labs and met up with their team, they cried harder. But nobody was crying harder that Barry, who had spent the past six months feeling guilty for not being able to find them again.

◄◆►

Cisco felt terribly alone. Well, he was alone in his apartment, for the first time in maybe a year. But he felt alone in his heart, alone to his core, more alone than he has ever felt in his life. There was a Caitlin shaped hole in his heart and even though only a few hours passed since they’ve seen each other, even if they said they’d meet in just a couple of hours at Star Labs, Cisco still opened up a breach straight to her living room.

She was on the couch, crying. But once Caitlin saw him, she smiled, wildly, and wiped her tears.

‘You’re here.’, she seemed to be in disbelief.

‘I can’t… I couldn’t…’, Cisco shook his head. ‘My apartment was so empty.’

She nodded strongly, getting up and making her way to his side, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him strongly.

‘We should move in together.’, Caitlin said in a rush. ‘I can’t live without you, I don’t think I can do that anymore. We’ve been together in the past year and I-’

‘Okay.’, Cisco said strongly. ‘Yes, okay, we need to do that, like as soon as possible.’

‘Tomorrow, yes. You’ll move the rest of your things tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow? Why wait till tomorrow?’, he held her stronger. ‘I can breach everything here in an hour, tops.’

‘Cisco.’, she grabbed his cheeks and made him look at her. ‘You’ll be busy tonight.’

He frowned. ‘I will?’

Caitlin nodded, smiling softly at him. ‘There’s something I’ve wanted to do since… week three of Salvation. But I didn’t do it, because I was … I felt uncomfortable in my skin and I thought it wasn’t the right time, it was a few centuries too early.’

Cisco didn’t really understand what she was talking about.

‘I don’t feel uncomfortable anymore, I shaved and did a face mask and everything.’, Caitlin chuckled. ‘And we’re when we should be, 2018.’

Caitlin took a deep breath, still smiling wildly, and then she kissed Cisco.

She kissed Cisco, and she had done that before, but before, in Salvation, she stopped.

She wasn’t stopping now.

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Cisco’s apartment didn’t feel empty because he had gotten used to living with Caitlin.

Cisco’s heart felt empty because he fell in love with Caitlin.

**_Oh._ **

He held Caitlin, kissed her back and he didn’t let go for a long, a long while.

◄◆►

In Salvation, in 1881, Zari and Hex were sharing a table. He was drinking, she was was pretending to drink.

‘So, are you really telling me they aren’t together?’, Hex sounded incredulous.

‘They’re not.’, Zari shrugged. ‘They weren’t, anyway. Technically, Caitlin and Cisco get together their first night back in 2018. It takes them a few years to get married.’

‘Huh.’, Hex drank a little, smirking despite himself. ‘I sure hope they invite me to the wedding.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to be honest with y'all. I really liked this one.


	4. Free Day: Arranged Marriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a world where people are afraid of metahumans, Caitlin is forced by law to marry a stranger. Unfortunately, Cisco isn't as much of a stranger as a painful blast from the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was surprisingly fun to write :)

Caitlin couldn’t say that Central City turned into nazi Germany, because she hadn’t lived in nazi Germany. But.

But.

It all started with the particle accelerator explosion, of course. She lost everything that night - her prestigious career in bioengineering, her mentor, her friends, her fiance. Her life.

She gained something that night, too. Cold powers that turned her evil and a new moniker: Killer Frost. It took a few long years, of trying to control the dark side of her, a couple of arrest warrants and some really bad decisions that she had no say in, but Caitlin managed to take control over her dark side.

Just as she managed to flash her eyes and form ice without Killer Frost taking over, just as Caitlin promised herself she will never do anything outside of the law again, the law changed.

The Metahuman Registration Act forced all metahumans to register with the Central City Police Department. They will have a database filled with information on every metahuman (birth certificate, blood tests, MRI scans, dna sequences, full explanations of their powers, police record, home and work addresses and so on), and every metahuman was forced by law to succumb to their tests. They also had to have a badge on them at all times, with a barcode that the police could scan and have instant access to the information.

Nazi Germany. Yup.

The metahumans weren’t fond of this train of events, and they were very vocal about it. Some humans joined them, but in the end, the City Council passed the bill. The Flash was the first one to register, and he made a whole speech out of it, in front of the cameras. He signed with his real name, the Chief of Police now knew his real identity, and after that, metahumans were more willing to register.  

Caitlin did it. She wanted a fresh start, she wanted a life not influenced by Killer Frost. So she registered, and she moved into a new place and cut her hair a little shorter, got a job as a bartender.

For a few months, life was good. Average and boring, and she only used her powers when they were out of ice at the bar, but life was good.

And then the Metahuman Union Act passed. Which… was worse than nazi Germany.

There were a lot of reasons why the law passed, but Caitlin didn’t pay them any mind. Really, she didn’t care _why_ it happened, she just cared that if she didn’t marry someone in the next year, she will get a metahuman husband assigned.

Really much worse than nazi Germany.

◄◆►

She didn’t even try to find someone on her own. What was the point? Caitlin knew she will never love anyone again like she had loved Ronnie. She was going to get a mail husband, and that was fine.

It wasn’t, really wasn’t, but she’ll deal with it.

◄◆►

When she got the email, she was on a shift, so she didn’t open it until she got home.

They were scheduled at the Town Hall in a week’s time.

Her and Francisco Ramon. _Vibe_.

All of her breath left her.

She knew Cisco. She used to know him well, before everything changed. She hadn’t spoken to him in years, not since Ronnie’s funeral, not since she ran.

Caitlin cried herself to sleep, and hated herself for it.

◄◆►

Cisco emailed her the next day.

 

> _Hey, Caitlin._
> 
> _I don’t know if you still use this account, but…_
> 
> _(I hate people who use dots like this. Like, you can delete them and think of something to write. Idiots. Anyway.)_
> 
> _I guess you got The Email already. I’m curious how you reacted, honestly. Cause I just stopped functioning for an hour or five._
> 
> _I don’t know what to say. Which is surprising, knowing me. But I am honestly speechless._
> 
> _It could be a lot worse, I think. I don’t know what’s going through your head, but from where I’m standing, it could be a lot worse._
> 
> _I’ll see you soon._
> 
> _Cisco x_

She didn’t reply.

◄◆►

She got a mandatory week off work.

On Monday, Caitlin went to the mall. She got a white dress, but it wasn’t anything too fancy. It was more of a sundress than a wedding dress, but it was white with lace details on the arms, and it did fit her nicely.

On Tuesday, she started with a waxing appointment. Then she went and got her hair cut and dyed, got a manicure and pedicure, only hesitated for half a second before choosing her usual black nail polish. She went home, ordered pizza and watched Netflix.

On Wednesday, she got married.

Caitlin woke up way too early, had a fast breakfast and a lot of coffee before making her way to the salon closest to her apartment. She got her hair done in loose curls and simple makeup, but with red lipstick.

Back home, she rushed through dressing and choosing jewelry. She thought about putting on heels, but Cisco wasn’t that much taller then her. And, honestly, she couldn’t be bothered. In the end, she put on her day to day black biker boots. Her dress was long and flowy, it wasn’t like the shoes were too on display.

She spent a minute in front of the mirror, just looking at herself. It was her wedding day, she looked beautiful and it was nothing like she ever imagined it to be.

With a stop at the flower shop, picking up a small bouquet of red roses, she made her way to City Hall.

Cisco was already there, alongside some people, talking and waiting on the steps. His back was to hers, so everyone else saw her first. The guy who was right in front of Cisco, he stared at her for a while, before smiling softly and manhandling Cisco, turning him around.

‘Oh.’, Cisco breathed out. ‘You came. I really thought you were going to stand me up.’

He hadn’t changed, that much. His hair was longer, and his curls looked just as well as Caitlin’s did. He was wearing a suit, a nice one, and he looked good in it. He was also wearing sneakers, which made her feel better for the biker boots.

‘You look nice.’, he said next, frowning a little, like he was surprised she actually put effort into it.

‘Hello, Cisco.’, she finally said, looking to the people around him, his friends. ‘Your parents aren’t here?’

He shook his head. ‘They’re not a big fan of this superhero business. Your mom’s not coming?’

‘No.’, Caitlin said. ‘She hasn’t spoken to me at all since I got powers.’

‘Well we’re a mess.’, Cisco snorted. ‘Off to a great start. Right, so, this is Barry, he’s my best man, and Iris, his wife. And this is Joe, Iris’s dad and Barry’s foster dad.’

Caitlin smiled politely at them, but then turned to Cisco and whispered. ‘Am I supposed to act like I didn’t figure out Barry’s the Flash?’

Barry gasped. ‘How did you figure it out?’

‘Your body.’, came her prompt response, followed by awkward silence. Caitlin turned to Iris. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.’

‘Caitlin’s still working on her social skills.’, Cisco said, heavily amused, paired with grabbing her shoulder.

The touch sent a shiver through her, and it did something to Cisco too, because he turned to her with a lot of hesitance in his eyes.

‘Are we really doing this?’

‘We have to.’, Caitlin answered quickly. ‘You’re right, this could have been a lot worse. At least we know each other.’

‘ _Knew_ each other.’, Cisco said bitterly.

She swallowed thickly.

‘This is insane.’, Cisco went on, a little softer. ‘I was supposed to be your husband’s best man, for god’s sake.’

Despite herself, and despite the tears she felt at the corner of her eyes, Caitlin smiled.

‘Ronnie’s laughing his ass off right now.’

Cisco chuckled, but he still looked somewhat desperate.

‘Well.’, she took a deep breath. ‘On one hand, we don’t have a choice anymore. On the other hand, we both could have ended up a lot worse than this. So come on, let’s go get married.’

Caitlin didn’t give Cisco any time to response, before turning to Iris. ‘You can be my maid of honor, right?’

‘Sure.’, the woman didn’t hesitate, even if she was surprised.

‘Okay.’, Caitlin took a deep breath, wrapped an arm around Cisco’s. ‘Let’s do this.’

◄◆►

Cisco stopped the officiating officer right before they got to the ‘I do’ part. He said Barry’s name, and the other man pulled a jewelry box out of his pocket. There were two wedding rings inside, white gold like her and Ronnie’s were supposed to be, but very different in design. They were flat and thin, but they had an intricate design of swirls embedded on them.

They were pretty, and it was a nice gesture, on Cisco’s part. So Caitlin let him put the ring on her finger, and she did the same for him.

‘I guess I do.’, Cisco said.

Caitlin snorted. ‘Then I guess I do, too.’

The officer paused. ‘You may now kiss the bride?’, it came out as a question.

Both her and Cisco were trying not to laugh. But he did sweetly kiss her cheek, winking at her afterwards.

◄◆►

They were supposed to go to Joe’s house after, for a party. Caitlin was hesitant, so Cisco took her a little to the side and leveled her with a look.

‘It’s not gonna be much, we’re gonna order pizza and I think Iris baked a cake, but Barry kept her from writing anything embarrassing on it. Still, you don’t have to come.’

‘This is real.’, Caitlin said in a whisper.

Cisco tilted his head. ‘Yeah. They’re not just my friends, they’re my family. And I guess you’re my family too.’

She smirked, at that. ‘I guess.’

‘You were always gonna be my family.’, Cisco shrugged. ‘Not like this, but with Ronnie.’

‘You’re taking this way too easily.’

‘Not really.’, he snorted. ‘I’ll tell you about my meltdown some other time. But we could go for some pizza. And maybe catch up on the last couple of years.’

Caitlin went to Joe’s. She was still apprehensive and very awkward about it, but Cisco was really being an exquisite human being about all this. It was the least she could do.

◄◆►

Barry and Cisco told the story of how The Flash and Vibe came to be. Caitlin would be lying if she said she wasn’t very interested in hearing it.

‘So what’s your power?’, Barry easily asked her.

She turned to look at Cisco. ‘You didn’t tell them?’

He shook his head, not meeting her eyes. ‘Not my secret to tell. I mean, I told them I knew you before and I told them about Ronnie, but the rest… that’s on you, if you want to tell them.’

‘You don’t have to.’, Iris said, gently.

‘Yeah, totally.’, Barry nodded. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.’

She took a deep breath. ‘I’m Killer Frost.’

Her statement was met with shocked silence. Cisco scratched his head.

‘Didn’t I put you in prison, once?’, Barry asked.

‘Yup. I got out on parole.’, Caitlin said. ‘So the thing with Killer Frost is that I couldn’t control it. Control her. She’s…. She’s like a different person, a different personality.’

‘An evil one?’, Barry asked, slowly.

‘Yeah. And when she took over, I had no say in what she said or what she did. Most of the time I didn't even remember it. I tried to suppress it, I thought there was going to be a chemical solution for it. I devised a treatment, I was getting ready to buy the supplies, then she took over and stole them. And I woke up in a cell.’

‘I’m sorry.’, Barry said gently.

‘Don’t be.’, she managed to smile at him. ‘You did the right thing.’

‘Do you still think you can find a … solution?’, Cisco frowned. ‘Cause the Star Labs med lab is up and running.’

Caitlin shook her head. ‘I don’t think it’s possible, but either way, I don’t need it.’

She turned her palm upside down, and her eyes flashed. She easily formed an icicle between her fingertips, aiming and shooting it straight at the ice bucket the champagne was in. Then, for good measure, she made snow. Just a little, right outside of the living room window, but she did make snow, in the middle of May.

‘I’m fully in control.’, she said with her eyes still flashing, hair blonde, her voice low and icy. ‘It’s still 100% me.’

‘Yeah?’, Cisco challenged. ‘Then tell me the first 20 digits of pi.’

She glared at him. ‘I’m a doctor and a bio-engineer, I have no need to know the first 20 digits of pi off the top of my head.’

‘There she is.’, Cisco grinned, pleased with himself.

Caitlin rolled her eyes and switched back to normal.

‘That’s going to come in handy at our summer cookouts.’, he went on.

She blinked. ‘You have summer cookouts?’

‘Not yet we don’t’, Joe smiled wildly, ‘but that sounds like a great idea.’

Cisco threw Caitlin a very particular look, the one that said ‘You did this to yourself.’ She found herself smiling.

◄◆►

At the end of the night, Cisco offered to breach her home. Caitlin accepted only because of scientific curiosity. Still, in Joe’s back yard, he postponed opening a breach for her.

‘So, there’s one thing we need to decide on. You know they expect us to move in together and they’re gonna do a house call within the month.’

She sighed, but dealt with it. ‘My apartment is barely big enough for me and my lease is gonna be up. Do you still live in the loft?’

‘No, I got a bigger place.’, he shook his head. ‘It has a nice guestroom, Iris helped me decorate. And there’s an office you can use, if you want. I mostly do my work at the lab.’

‘Okay.’, it was easy for her to agree. ‘I got the rest of the week off work.’

‘I’ll help you move in as soon as you’re done packing. Between Barry’s speed and my breaches, it’s gonna be a walk in the park.’

‘You think everything’s gonna be a walk in the park.’, Caitlin couldn’t help but tease.

‘No’, he smiled at her, ‘I think us becoming friends again is going to be a painful ride. But I’m willing to have at it.’

‘That…’, Caitlin took a deep breath. ‘That’s actually comforting.’

The smile Cisco threw her was unnaturally soft.

◄◆►

The next few months were as weird as they were good.

Caitlin moved into Cisco’s guest room, and over the first weeks, they got used to sharing the space and fighting over the bathroom in the mornings.

Slowly but surely, they managed to become friends again, and it wasn’t like Cisco said, it wasn’t a painful ride. They were good friends before and, somehow, neither of them have changed that much in the years that passed, not in sense of personality.

So they found things to text about every day. They had at least one meal a day together, be it breakfast if Caitlin had just got back from a night shift, dinner if Star Labs was having a slow day and every now and then, they managed to meet up for lunch somewhere in town. In the weekends, they usually found the time to watch a movie or two on the couch.

They washed their clothes together, but Cisco was the only one who ever let a piece of her colored underwear sneak in with the whites. They took turns vacuuming, depending on how busy they were that week. Sometimes, they went to Iris and Barry’s place, had dinner with them.

Caitlin got a new rug for the living room. And a new shower curtain. And a new coffee maker. She cancelled her Netflix account and used his. Cisco didn’t comment.

◄◆►

About three months into their marriage, they were at Iris and Barry’s, and the Flash cornered her in the kitchen and offered her a job at Star Labs.

‘Cisco didn’t want me to talk to you, he was afraid you’re going to be weird about it, and we’ll be weird about it, but just… think about it, it’s a possibility. I mean, Team Flash could really benefit having someone with your skills and-’

‘Barry.’, she cut him off. ‘I’m not a superhero.’

‘That’s not what I meant.’, he said around a smile. ‘I meant that we could use a doctor and a bioengineer.’

That shut her up, and it shut her up quickly. Barry went on, about somewhat flexible work hours, a stabile salary and the opportunity to do research, start publishing papers again, but Caitlin only half listened.

In the end, she didn’t give Barry an answer, but she did promise to think about it.

◄◆►

Caitlin did think about it, and decided to say no. Cisco was right, it would be too weird. They’d spend literally all their time together, that would be too much, and she didn’t feel entirely comfortable around Iris and Barry just yet.

But then Cisco got hurt.

She got a call from Barry one night, telling her that Cisco got a concussion and he was still unconscious. Caitlin all but yelled at him to come get her, and he did.

In a flash, she was standing in the Cortex. It was the first time she stepped into Star Labs since everything happened, but she had no time to stress over it. Cisco was unconscious in the med lab, and Caitlin was pleasantly surprised by the state in which the lab was stocked.

Cisco was going to be fine. She checked, double checked, triple checked and did a full MRI.

As she waited for him to wake up, Barry told her about the metahuman they were fighting and Caitlin got an idea of how the Flash could catch him. It worked, and the bad guy was locked in Iron Heights before Cisco woke up.

That night left a bitter taste in her mouth. It made her realize a few things, like the fact that she cared about Cisco much more than she realized. And, just a little more importantly, she realized that Team Flash really could use her skills.  

So she quit her job at the bar and called Barry, who all but screamed in excitement and admitted his lawyer had drafted a contract for her weeks ago. She didn’t tell Cisco, not immediately. She waited for him to come home and it was clear that Barry didn’t tell him either.

Caitlin chickened out of telling him that evening, but in the morning, when she woke up at the same time as him, she couldn’t postpone it anymore.

‘You don’t have a shift today, what are you getting dressed for?’

‘I quit the bar and took Barry up on his offer.’

Cisco sighed, deeply. ‘Is this because I got hurt the other day?’

‘Only partially.’, she admitted. ‘I also really miss doing what I do best.’

‘I’m not mad about that.’, he said after a beat. ‘I’m actually really glad you’re not going to be wasting away in a godforsaken bar anymore. I just don’t want you to think-’

‘I’m not doing it for you.’, she knew what he was thinking. ‘I’m doing it for me.’

‘Fine, okay. That’s good.’ He chuckled. ‘So how awkward will it be working together on top of living together?’

‘We’ll see, I guess.’

Cisco snorted. Then he laughed, mumbling ‘I guess’ under his breath. ‘Is that gonna be our catchphrase?’

‘It already is, Cisco.’

He laughed harder.

◄◆►

Working with Cisco wasn’t awkward. Getting to know Iris and Barry a lot more was, but it wasn’t that bad, really. They were good people and Caitlin actually liked them.

They cared a lot about Cisco, that was obvious, and they cared a lot about each other, which was sickeningly cute.

The job wasn’t easy. There was a lot of work put into The Flash saving the city, but… It had been years since Caitlin had felt this good. She felt like she was in the right place, like she was doing exactly what she needed to do.

Cisco figured it out after a week. ‘Had I know it would make you this happy, I would have insisted on it a long time ago.’

‘Me too.’, she chuckled. ‘I don’t … I didn’t think it would make this big of a difference.’

‘I’m glad it did.’, he smiled very softly at her. ‘When we got married, I didn’t want… I _don’t_ want neither of us to be miserable. That’s the only thing I wanted to avoid.’

‘I’m not miserable now. And I wasn’t miserable at the bar, I promise.’

He didn’t say anything, even if he looked like he wanted to. Instead, Cisco hugged her. He gave her enough time to stop him, but she didn’t. Caitlin hugged him back and it was nice. She remembered his hugs from before, she remembered them being good hugs, but this one, it was the best ever.

◄◆►

‘I have a favor to ask.’, Cisco told her on a cold December morning, when they were having breakfast, still in their pajamas.

‘Anything.’

‘I need you to come do Christmas with my parents.’

Her jaw dropped at that, because she thought they weren’t talking. Her and Cisco had been living together for over 6 months, working for about two, and she had never seen him talk with his parents.

‘I don’t know what they want’, Cisco went on, ‘but they say they want to meet you and reconnect with me. I mean, they haven’t really apologized for all the shit they said when they figured out I was Vibe, but they… I mean, my mom sounded pretty sincere.’

‘If you want to go, I’ll come with you, of course I will.’, Caitlin said quickly. ‘But don’t expect me to stick around if they start saying shit about you again.’

‘You’d do that for me?’

‘Of course.’, there was no hesitation on her part. ‘Do they know about me? That I have powers?’

He nodded. ‘I haven’t told them you’re Killer Frost, but I did tell them why we got married.’

‘And do they, I mean, do they expect us to be.... Together?’

‘I don’t know what they expect’, Cisco shook his head, ‘but I stopped acting like I’m something I’m not a long time ago.’

She smiled at that, and started discussing what gifts they needed to buy.

◄◆►

Cisco explained that he had a lot of extended family, but for reasons unknown to him, Christmas day was just going to be his parents, Dante and the two of them.

It started off well. Caitlin got hugged upon introduction, and Dante immediately started addressing her as his little sis. The food was good and a lot of it, there was a beautiful Christmas tree in a corner of the dining room, and Caitlin spent a lot of time looking at Cisco’s baby pictures.

But at one point during desert, Cisco’s mother asked if she should start getting ready to become a grandmother.

‘Mami, no!’, Cisco all but whined, but Caitlin patted his knee, shutting him up.

‘We haven’t really discussed it, it’s a bit too soon.’

‘Of course, you’ve only been married a couple of months.’, Dante backed her up.

‘That’s not exactly what I meant.’, Caitlin smiled at him. ‘There have only been five recorded metahuman births, and neither of them have been with two metahumans involved.’

‘You actually researched this?’, Cisco’s eyes were very wide.

‘Don’t flatter yourself.’, she snorted. ‘I’m a doctor, it’s my job to be aware of medical advances. All the births were successful, both for the mother and the child, but there’s still a lot of guessing happening and it’s not… you can’t be comfortable, yet.’

Cisco was staring at her, half shock and half awe. ‘You know, I think I just got an idea for a new business opportunity for Star Labs.’

She rolled her eyes, but she knew it was something they will discuss later. She also got the conversation to move into another area, and things went back to being fine and just mildly awkward.

◄◆►

After they left his parent’s place, Cisco said he wanted to walk off the food, so that’s what they did.

Half way through the walk, he grabbed her hand, which was a first. Still, Caitlin didn’t pull away, she just maneuvered her fingers into a comfortable position.

‘Tonight could have gone a lot worse.’

She hummed. ‘It was nice. But I’m not… I’m the outsider, here. I don’t know how you and your parents usually are.’

‘A lot worse than this. They never really understood me, you know, my love for science, not for piano.’

‘Like Dante.’

‘Yeah. And when I became Vibe, it got worse. They stopped even trying to understand me.’

She thought back of all the discussions about metahumans they had during the day. There were a couple, but they were curious in nature, Caitlin didn’t sense any bad vibes (oh god she started to think in puns, like Cisco did).

‘And now?’, she asked, squeezing his fingers.

‘I still don’t think they understand me. You know, the science part or the meta one. But I think they’re trying.’

‘That’s what I think too.’, she smiled at him, and it was quickly returned.

‘They liked you.’, his smile grew. ‘Dante is totally jealous of me right now.’

‘He’s not.’, Caitlin snorted.

‘Totally is.’

‘Cisco, we’re not really… He has nothing to be jealous of.’

‘Sure he does!’, he grinned. ‘I get to spend everyday with you, I get to hold your hand. He should totally be jealous.’

She just laughed it off.

There were moments, like this one, when Caitlin felt bad that she and Cisco weren’t really a couple. Sometimes, she even thought she wanted it, but honestly, she was too afraid to even think about it.

◄◆►

Barry never asked Caitlin to go Killer Frost and help him out. But when Cisco got kidnapped by the Trickster’s son and he was filmed with a power dampening collar on his neck, Caitlin didn’t so much offer her help, as much as she ordered Barry to let her help.

That was when she found out that Cisco had made her a suit a long time ago and honestly, she loved it a whole lot. It was beautiful and dark, comfortable and very badass. Paired with her blonde hair and flashing blue eyes, Caitlin looked in the mirror and felt like a superhero.

Even Barry did a double take when she stepped in the Cortex suited up.

‘I know.’, she said to his stunned silence. ‘Now let’s get our boy back.’

And that’s what they did. With Iris coordinating them from the Cortex, with the CCPD and Joe ready to intervene at a moment’s notice, they managed to catch Trickster and free Cisco. He was fine, more frustrated than anything.

He seemed sheepish, though, looking at the suit Caitlin was wearing.

‘Am I going to get yelled at for making that?’

‘I’m not sure yet.’, Caitlin tilted her head. ‘Let’s get home first, alright?’

She didn’t yell at him when they got home, but she did tell him that she really liked the suit, and she hugged him for a long while, because he was there and he was safe and the hours he was kidnapped had been horrible.

Ronnie died suddenly. Realistically speaking, Caitlin only had a couple of minutes to be afraid for him. With Cisco now, there have been hours. But unlike before, she could actually do something about it. And she did, Killer Frost fought side by side the Flash and saved the day.

Caitlin didn’t think she would be willing to do that all day, every day. But she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she will do anything in her power to keep Cisco safe.

◄◆►

She couldn’t fall asleep, that night, and there was light coming out of Cisco’s bedroom. He was watching Mythbusters on his laptop and he easily let Caitlin join him. She fell asleep in his bed, woke up in his arms and the next night, she didn’t go back to sleep in the guest room.

It should have meant something.

◄◆►

For their one year anniversary, they went to Star City.

Well, they were already there for Felicity and Oliver’s wedding, but they spent a few days in town after that. They saw a couple of museums, a few pretty parks. They did some shopping, went to the movies, discovered cute restaurants and cafes.

It all felt very relaxing, for Caitlin.

When they held hands while walking side by side, she felt as though they were on a date.

When they fell asleep side by side, holding hands or holding each other, she felt as if she was falling in love with Cisco.

◄◆►

She found out about Gypsy the hard way.

They needed her help to stop a metahuman, and she got there terribly fast, too fast for anybody to say anything.

Gypsy took one look at Caitlin and scrunched up her nose. ‘So you’re the one Cisco dumped me for?’

Needless to say, Caitlin did not help at all with catching that metahuman. She ran, all but locked herself up in the lab and banged her head on the wall repeatedly.

She didn’t even think of the possibility of Cisco having someone when they got married. She just assumed that he didn’t and that, added to the fact that he hadn’t even told her about Gypsy, it hurt Caitlin a surprising amount.

It was 3AM when Cisco came and found her, told her that the metahuman was in Iron Heights and Gypsy was back on Earth 19. And then he apologized for not telling Caitlin about her.

‘Why didn’t you?’

‘Cause I knew you were gonna… that you’d get upset. And really, it didn’t matter.’

She spluttered at that. ‘It didn’t matter? Cisco, you had to break up with your girlfriend in order to marry me! And don’t tell me you didn’t care about Gypsy, I know you, you don’t do things like that.’

He sighed, deeply, looking to his feet as he spoke. ‘I did care about Gypsy, I cared about her a lot, but I was going to break up with her anyway.’

Cisco was telling the truth, Caitlin was sure of it, but she didn’t understand it.

‘Why?’

‘She always put her work first. And living on different Earths, that wasn’t, it wasn’t good. Honestly, I wanted to ask her to move in with me, but I knew she wouldn’t do that, just like I wouldn’t leave my friends and move to Earth 19. There was no future for us, so… I was going to break it off anyway.’ He looked up. ‘I just used you as an escape goat. It was shitty of me, and I’m sorry.’

Caitlin knew he was telling the truth, but it wasn’t all the truth. He was raised a certain way, and she had known this about him long before they got married: Cisco believed in love. He believed in love that spun the world around, he believed in meaningful relationships and in true happiness achieved in the arms of another person. He believed in marriage as a lifetime commitment and Caitlin felt sick to her stomach that he wasn’t able to have that.

She also felt another type of sick to her stomach when she thought that she wanted to give him that.

‘I’m not mad at you.’, Caitlin finally said, grabbing his hand. ‘I’m mad at the world, for not giving you the life you deserve.’

‘My life is awesome.’, Cisco said with feeling. ‘My life is amazing!’

She threw him a look, her ‘I know you’re lying’ look.

He shook his head. ‘My life is amazing and I wouldn’t change a thing in it.’

‘How can you say that?’, Caitlin whispered, a little shakily.

‘Not a thing. I’m married to my best friend, I’m working with my other best friend, I’m saving lives and designing incredibly awesome tech on a daily basis. Trust me when I tell you that I’m happy.’

He hugged her tightly, and Caitlin just had to believe him.

◄◆►

Everything changed the next week, when she accidentally heard a conversation between Cisco and Barry. She should have closed the camera feed when she realized it was a very private talk, but she didn’t.

‘I don’t know, man.’, Cisco shook his head. ‘She sleeps in my bed every night, her clothes are in my dresser, hell, she wears my clothes sometimes! But beyond that… she’s my best friend, she never acts like she’s anything else.’

‘Are you sure about that?’, Barry asked. ‘Cause I’ve seen you dancing at Felicity and Oliver’s wedding. And I see you holding hands, like a lot.’

Again, Cisco shrugged, making the other man huff, aggravated.

‘Cisco, don’t you want it? Want Caitlin to be _more_ than just your friend and cuddle buddy?’

‘Oh, man.’, he smiled. ‘When I met her, if Ronnie wouldn’t have been around, I would have fallen for Caitlin so bad. Soooooo bad.’

There was a pause, as Cisco looked at a fix point. ‘Who am I kidding?’, he sighed. ‘I still fell head over heels for her, I just did my very best to ignore it.’

‘You shouldn’t ignore it, anymore.’, Barry said, gently. ‘You’re married, Cisco, you’re allowed to be in love with her.’

‘Yeah, we’re married, but we didn’t choose it. She didn’t choose me and that…’, he shook his head. ‘I’m okay with being her friend, really I am. For years, I thought I lost Caitlin forever. It’s… really good to have her back like this.’

When Caitlin looked up, Iris was watching her, clearly having heard everything.

‘I won’t tell.’, Iris said gently after she closed the feed. ‘But I will insist we go get some coffee and talk about it.’

‘Yes, okay.’, Caitlin breathed out. ‘I think I need that.’

They ignored the weird looks the men were giving them for leaving in the middle of the day, but they went to Jitters and talked for a long while. Well, Caitlin talked. She poured all of her thoughts and feeling, and at the end of it all, Iris laughed at her.

‘Girl, I’ve been waiting for you to get on with the program for a long, long while.’

Caitlin blinked. ‘That’s not helping, Iris.’

They talked for a while, but all Iris said was that Caitlin needed to talk to Cisco. It really was not that helpful.

◄◆►

At the end of the day, they both felt the same.

They loved the other person, they were in love with them (Cisco had a couple of years of a head start), they wanted more than what they had now. They were both afraid of saying something, they were afraid of losing what they already had.

It was that thought that pushed Caitlin to do it, one morning when they weren’t rushing out the door.

‘Hey, Cisco. Do you wanna go out for dinner tonight?’

‘Sure.’, he didn’t miss a beat. ‘You wanna do Big Belly Burger or do you wanna drag me to one of those stuffy fancy restaurants again?’

He didn’t get it, clearly. Caitlin smiled. ‘Wherever you want.’

‘That doesn’t sound like you.’, he frowned at her. ‘Are you okay?’

She rolled her eyes, briefly. But she also made her way to his side and grabbed his hand. ‘It’s Friday.’

‘Yes. So?’

‘I think Friday night is a good night to establish as a date night. Right?’

Cisco’s eyes grew very wide, and his cheeks instantly got red. ‘D-date?’

She had to smile, but she also nodded.

‘What the-’, he tried. ‘I mean, what - uhm… You don’t - Caitlin, what-’

‘I’ll be honest.’, she cut him off. ‘I listened to a conversation you had with Barry the other day.’

He grew pale at that, evidently afraid, and he moved to take his hand away from her hold. She didn’t let him.

‘I feel the same.’, Caitlin said quickly. ‘I may have not been in love with you for as long as you have, but everything else that you said, it’s true for me too.’

Cisco just looked at her for a long, long while. Finally, he relaxed, and smiled a little at her.

‘Really?’

Again, she nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘I’ll make us a reservation, then.’

Cisco still sounded incredulous. It was adorable. So Caitlin kissed his cheek and then urged him to get ready for work.

◄◆►

Both of them had calmed down by the end of the day. They went to a sushi place they’ve been to before and liked, and there was no awkwardness. Really, it didn’t feel like a first date, it just felt like… them.

It only got awkward when they got back home and started getting ready for bed.

‘Are you… I mean, do you want me to go to the guest room?’, Cisco asked with his back to her.

‘Do you want to do that?’

‘Not really.’ He turned around, cheeks red and biting his lower lip. ‘I also don’t want you to think that-’

‘Okay.’, Caitlin cut him off. ‘No sex yet, got it. That’s probably for the best.’

Cisco was clearly embarrassed, head bent back, blinking rapidly at the ceiling. Caitlin took pity on him, made her way to his side and hugged him tightly. He did relax, eventually, and she kissed his cheek then, but didn’t let go of him just yet.

‘Would a kiss be acceptable?’, Caitlin whispered, as playfully as she could, even if her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and he could probably feel it.

He didn’t answer, not really. Instead, Cisco changed his hold on her, grabbed her cheeks instead of her waist and slowly, very slowly, he kissed her.

It was… everything, really. Everything Caitlin never knew she needed. Everything she never realized she wanted. It was every good thing that has ever happened in her life, times 1000. It was an earth shattering event, it was a supernova and a burning sun altogether.

It was absolutely perfect.

◄◆►

Cisco was called in to the CCPD the next day to consult on a case, and come lunch, Caitlin went and picked him up so that they could eat together.

‘Captain Singh, have you met my wife?’

She all but melted, right then and there, on the floor of the CCPD, because it was the first time Cisco called her that, and it was the first time the word held any meaning for her, and he had said it around a grin, with a very loving spark in his eyes.

‘You’ve been married for over a year.’, Singh sighed. ‘How can you still be in the honeymoon phase?’

‘Oh!’, Cisco yelped. ‘Honeymoon! We haven’t done that, we should totally do that!’

Caitlin laughed.

She knew that for the rest of her life, she will have Cisco by her side to make her laugh. That thought made her kiss him, much to Singh’s displeasure.


	5. Supervillains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco didn’t want to be a bad guy, but the decision was taken out of his hands and now, taking someone's life was the only way he felt something. Felt anything. That changes when he meets her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS this is bad  
> This has blood, gore, violence. Horrible violence. Violence just for the sake of violence. Blood, a lot of blood. Vivid descriptions of gore. And smut.   
> It's horribly harsh. Please read at your own risk.

Cisco didn’t want to be a bad guy, but the decision was taken out of his hands. The world changed, and it changed fast, and Cisco was forced to take his place in it. 

When people started getting powers, it was fine for awhile. Cisco freaked out, sure, when he started seeing other versions of himself, when he could blast beams of powers from his arms, when he could open up portals to wherever he wanted. He freaked out, but then he dealt with it. He learned what he could do, he made his gauntlets, he kept himself in control.

But not all metahumans did that. More and more metahumans started using their powers in nefarious ways and people were afraid. And when people are afraid, the world goes to shit.

He was in a coffee shop when the news hit. The authorities were to track down and apprehend every metahuman. Every single metahuman in existence was to be put in lockdown. They didn’t name it Auschwitz, but it was close.

Cisco panicked. His boss knew about him, and a few other people in the lab who helped him with the gauntlets. He didn’t trust them enough. Aven if they didn’t spill, his parents surely will. Someone was going to to sell him out and they were going to do it fast. 

He ran.

With the clothes on his back, with a laptop in his bag and his gauntlets on, Cisco ran. He threw away his phone, breached himself to another town and withdrew all the money he had in his account. He came back to Central City, though, because the metahuman manhunt was a country wide operation, it didn’t matter what city he hid in. At least he knew Central City.

◄◆►

It didn’t take long for him to become a bad guy. Such was the world he lived in, such did the world model him.

The money ended, so he had to steal more. He didn’t have a place to stay, so he had to break into places for the night. 

His first kill was an accident. A homeless man stumbled upon his hidey hole of the night, and Cisco’s instincts kicked in before his brain did. The man was dead before he realized there was another person there.

His next kill was willing, and it was a group of three policemen who got on his tail.

He stopped counting after that.

◄◆►

He named himself Vibe.

The cops tried to throw some other nickname his way, but Vibe was his name now. 

He made sure everyone knew it.

◄◆►

He kept telling himself he was doing it for survival. It worked for a while, but Cisco did realize it was a lie. 

Survival? Who would want to live a life like this? The smartest thing he could do was to off himself.

But he didn’t, because the feeling he got, deep in his chest, as he saw the life pouring out of someone’s eyes, there was no other feeling like that in the world. It was wild and exhilarating, intense and… those were the only moments he felt alive. Running away from the cops, running fast, but not too fast, knowing that the cops will catch him, knowing that he will kill them. 

That was the only good thing left in his world. 

◄◆►

He met her by accident.

The place he wanted to spend the night in was an abandoned grocery store. There were blocks of ice holding the door closed, but he didn’t think anything of them, it was a pretty cold night by Central City standards. He easily destroyed the ice and made his way into the grocery store. 

She was there, standing straight in the middle of an isle, hands out in front of her, ready to attack. She didn’t, though, she just stared at him. 

Cisco took a second to do the same. She was wearing sweatpants and a very loose shirt, she was barefoot, but her blonde hair was perfectly curled and she had on a full face of makeup. It was the dark blue sparkly lipstick that made Cisco recognize her. That, and the ice on the door.

Killer Frost looked like she was ready to take a nap. 

‘Sorry to barge in on you.’, Cisco said. ‘I just wanted a place to crash for the night.’

‘This one’s taken.’, her voice was low and cold and… kinda hot.

‘I’ve got pizza pockets.’, was what came out of his mouth next. ‘And a bottle of tequila. I’m willing to share, if you let me crash with you.’

_ ‘With  _ me?’, she raised an eyebrow.

He blushed. ‘I meant like in the other corner of the store.’

It took a few moments, of her just looking at him, glaring coldly. But in the end, she did lower her hands. 

‘Don’t get any ideas, Vibe Boy. But I do want those pizza pockets.’

Cisco smirked. 

◄◆►

They didn’t talk. She made her way through most of the pizza pockets, they did equal number of shots of tequila. They made their makeshift beds in opposite sides of the store, but she leveled him with a very cold look when she told him, once again, to not get any ideas.

‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’, Cisco said, sincerely.

Although, that’s exactly what he did. He dreamed of her, naked and moaning because of him. He didn’t even feel too bad about it, considering he didn’t even remember the last time he got laid.

So when she woke him up, Cisco was confused for a second there. 

‘We’re surrounded.’, she whispered gravely. 

It woke him up instantly. ‘Who?’

‘Cops, obviously.’

‘How do you know that?’ He got up and started gathering his things.

‘Heat signatures. There’s 50 of them.’

Cisco cursed. ‘We can’t take them all out.’

She didn’t bat an eye at that. ‘There’s no other way out of the store.’

‘Yeah, there is.’, he straightened his back. ‘But I’m all out of safe houses, I don’t know where we could go.’

‘Star Labs roof.’

He stared at her. 

‘It’s deserted.’, she shrugged. ‘And the door to the roof is always open.’

Oh, how he wanted to ask. He didn’t, instead he opened a breach. She hesitated, but the cops were almost in, so he grabbed her hand and dragged her through the breach, straight to the rooftop of Star Labs.

They didn’t stay there. Everything happened very quickly, but Cisco followed Frost, all the way to the bay area, where they broke into a souvenir shop.

‘We should stick together.’, she leveled him with a look. ‘I can sense when the cops get close and you can portal us out of there.’

He tried to hide his surprise. ‘Breach. They’re called breaches, not portals.’

‘Sure, Vibe Boy.’

‘It’s just Vibe.’

She smirked at his glare. ‘So what do you say? Supervillain team up?’

It was the logical thing to do, so Cisco nodded. He shook her extended hand, shivering when they touched because her skin was a lot colder than his. It made her smirk, playfully and cocky.

Frost was very hot. It made Cisco’s stomach turn, in the best of ways.

◄◆►

Cisco thought killing a person was the only way he could feel alive these days. He was wrong.

The thrill he felt when he watched Frost icing the life out of someone, it was larger than life.

◄◆►

She used to be a doctor and bioengineer before, so that made the conversation between them stimulating.

She didn’t like to talk about what happened to her, between getting her powers and becoming Killer Frost, which was fine by Cisco, because she didn’t expect it from him.

She was incredibly sarcastic, which was the only thing that made him laugh anymore. 

She was the hottest woman he had ever seen, and that made sleeping next to her mildly problematic. 

There was tension, between them, because of that. Not all the time. 

Sometimes, they bantered like they were siblings about to jump at each other’s throats. Other times, a silence fell upon them, filled with things unspoken and hidden thoughts. Cisco didn’t know what to do, in those moments. It looked like Frost had the same issue. 

They barely spent time apart. Days passed. Weeks passed. Month passed. 

Seasons came and passed. Killer Frost and Vibe were known as an unbreakable pair. 

◄◆►

There was something so terribly exhilarating about blood. Not your blood, not your partner’s blood. Someone else’s blood.

Frost was bored, that day. She had stolen a katana the night before, just for fun. And when they bumped into some cops, she played with it.

Cisco sat back and watched, because it was clear that not only was she enjoying herself, but she didn’t need his help in dealing with the cops.

Well, he vibed their guns away, but that was it.

It was a spectacle, to watch Frost. In her leather jacket and high heeled boots, hair, as always, perfectly curled and not a smear on her makeup, grinning wildly as she wielded the katana. It was clear that she didn’t really know what she was doing, but she was making it work, and she was loving it.

Frost yelled in excitement, which was a first for Cisco to experience, and it was a beautiful sight. She yelled as she raised the sword up high, as she pushed it into someone’s chest, as she sliced it through someone’s neck. 

There was blood everywhere. On the katana, on her jacket. Splattered on her neck and face, pooling by her boots. None of it was hers.

Frost had single handedly killed five men, and there was only one left. She took her sweet time with him, chose to cut him even if she could have finished him off. She was hurting him, making his blood spill, she was having fun.

When she finally had enough, she used her heeled boots to push at the man’s chest, making him stumble back and fall to the ground. Frost threw the katana away, Cisco watched it slide through the pool of blood. He looked back at her, saw that she had her feet planted on either side of the cop. She wasn’t bending down, but she was looking down at him. There was blood dripping down from her right hand fingers.

The cop said nothing, Cisco didn’t think he was able to, anymore, but his chest was still rising and falling. Frost pushed a boot on it. 

‘That’s enough, I think.’, she was breathing heavily, but still smiling. ‘We mustn’t forget what we really are. You… are dead and I am Killer Frost.’

With that, she started moving her bloodied fingers and iced the cop’s insides. It didn’t take too long for him to die.

Frost straightened her back, taking a few steps away from the dead body. She pushed her hair away from her face, smearing even more blood on her.

There was something so terribly exhilarating about blood. Especially when Frost ignored that she was covered in it. She turned to Cisco, a soft, content smile on her face.

‘God, I needed that.’, she all but moaned. 

Cisco didn’t think he loved her, but he thought he wanted to. And he knew, for sure, that he wanted her. 

‘Stand down, Vibe Boy.’

It was said in a teasing way, a flirty way. There was a spark of something very playful in the way she smirked at him, there was something almost fond in the way she watched him. She knew what he was thinking about, and she didn’t mind it. 

‘Is that what I should do?’, the words came out breathy.

Frost hesitated, for the first time since he met her. ‘What you should do is breach us to Star Labs. I want to shower.’

That was what he did. They have used the roof of Star Labs a couple of times before, but this was the first time they didn’t run out of the building. It was clear that she knew her way around the place and Cisco was surprised to see that things still worked. Frost turned up the lights, they used the elevator whereas before they always used the stairs, and she led them to a locker room, where she promptly started stripping her clothes.

It took a lot of self control for Cisco to turn his back on hers.

‘I’m gonna shower. Wait for me?’

He nodded, bit his lip to not say something stupid like ‘Always’. 

As she showered, Cisco ransacked the lockers. He mostly found clothes and expired food, a couple of books and a small teddy bear. He gave the teddy to Frost when she came back out, and she wrinkled her nose, but took it.

‘So are you ever going to tell me how you know this place so well?’, he asked as he was following her through deserted hallways.

‘I used to work here.’, she said after a beat. ‘Before everything went to hell.’

Cisco didn’t say anything, and she didn’t either, for a while. But then, they passed an entryway, leading towards an open space. He knew that was called the pipeline.

Frost pointed at it. ‘That’s where my fiance died. He sacrificed himself for everyone else to live.’ She snorted, bitterly. ‘Fat load of help that was. We all got powers and most of us are dead.’

Again, Cisco didn’t say anything. She turned to look at him, frowning. ‘What? No  _ I’m sorry _ ?’

He shook his head. ‘You don’t need that.’

‘True.’, she nodded, before tilting her head. ‘Do you think I need you?’

That was a very weird question. He had no idea what she meant by it, so he had no idea what to answer. He said nothing.

‘Do you want me, Vibe Boy?’, she whispered, smirking slightly.

He still said nothing. The answer was clear enough, and by the looks of things, she knew it. So he just looked at her. 

Unapologetically. 

Frost nodded once, turned around and started walking again. Cisco followed her, all the way to the break room. She told him to crash there, said she’d sleep in Doctor Wells’ office. 

She left without another word and honestly, Cisco didn’t know what just happened between them, but something definitely did. He didn’t know what to do about it.

So he jerked himself off in the shower.

◄◆►

It was a week later, the summer hit them with a brutal heat wave, and they were bored. 

So when they saw a couple of cops on patrol, late one night, they didn’t run away. Instead, they followed them to an alleyway, where they jumped on them before they could call for backup.

Like before, Cisco vibed their guns away, but unlike before, he and Frost both fought. Not with their powers, not with random weapons, but with their fists. And knees. And legs. She used her nails, too.

It was messy. It was bloody, it was painful. Cisco was breathing heavily, his knuckles were bleeding, he could feel a bruise developing on his cheek. His left knee felt wonky.

He felt amazing. 

One of the cops died by Cisco bashing his head on the pavement. Repeatedly, until the cranium exploded and there was brain matter under Cisco’s fingers. Another one died with Cisco’s fingers wrapped tightly around his neck, with him watching the life leave the cop’s eyes. The last one died with Cisco straddling his chest, literally punching the life out of him.

When he looked up, Frost had killed the other three cops. She was watching Cisco, with wide eyes and something new in her eyes. Something raw and dark.

She looked like a goddess. Barely lit by a lamppost on the main street, with blood splattered everywhere, on her clothes and in her hair, standing straight over dead bodies, breathing heavily, looking at him so intensely. Frost was a goddess of death and she was looking at him like he was her next meal.

It took his breath away, completely. ‘You’re the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen.’

‘Get up.’, she said strongly, so strongly that Cisco obeyed immediately. 

‘Come here.’, Frost said next, and he did. He walked over the dead bodies, slipped on blood and stopped right in front of her.

They just looked at each other for a while, until they caught their breaths.

‘Vibe Boy’, she whispered, ‘what’s your name?’

He didn’t expect that, but it didn’t stop him from answering. ‘Cisco. Francisco Ramon.’

She mouthed his name once, before saying it out loud. It made him shiver.

‘My name is Caitlin Snow. Cait, if you want.’

‘Cait.’, he smiled, a little. ‘I like that.’

‘Good.’ she smirked. ‘You can scream it, if you want.’

Cisco’s eyes grew very wide at that, because he had no idea what she meant. Was she about to kill him, or was she flirting?

Slowly, she lifted her hand, ran her fingers on his cheek. Her fingers were cold against his skin, but Cisco’s body was in flames and the cold felt terribly good.

‘You’re covered in blood.’, she said, eyes on her fingers. He couldn’t see what she was doing, but he could imagine she was smearing the blood on his face. 

‘Cait.’, he breathed out. It was a plea. 

Her eyes met his. She nodded, once, grabbed a hold of his neck firmly, and kissed him.

Cisco didn’t die by the hands of Killer Frost, but it was a close thing.

She kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Maybe there wasn’t, what did he know? He knew nothing else, in that moment, except for the way her tongue made its way into his mouth, and the way she grabbed onto his shoulders with all of her strength.

The kiss didn’t start off slow. It didn’t start nice and gentle and evolve into something passionate. No, Killer Frost and Vibe never did things half way. So when they started kissing, it was instantly desperate. 

Everything exploded between them, and Cisco couldn’t stop. He kissed Cait as hard as he could, harder than ever, and he took strength from her moans. 

Because, gods, she was moaning. Loud and without abandon, clutching to him, pulling at his hair, biting at his lips and saying his name over and over again. She had never called him Cisco before, but he loved the way it sounded on her lips, loved the way she whispered it desperately against his skin.

He had enough brain cells still working to push her back, until she was against the wall of the alley. When he pushed his body to hers, Cait moaned very loudly. Cisco was hard, surprisingly so, considering they weren’t doing this for so long, but he didn’t feel bad about it, considering how Cait was moving against him. She grabbed his ass and pulled him in, and both of them moaned at that.

She kept her hold on his ass, but kissed him again, moving her hips against his. He tried to help her out, grabbed one of her thighs and wrapped her leg around his waist, making his hips push even further into the cradle of her legs. He was able to grab her ass now, and when he did so, Cait cursed, loud and filthy. Which, oddly enough, was not something she did very often.

Honestly, it made Cisco grin. He took a moment to look at her. There was blood smeared on her face, moreso around her lips, her eyes were dark, pupils very dilated. Her hair was a mess, for the first time since Cisco had met her. Her lipstick was, inexplicably so, still perfectly in place.

He licked his lips. ‘Your lipstick is the most ridiculous mystery in the metahuman world.’

‘Stop talking.’, she growled, reaching for his pants. 

Cait ran her fingers quickly over his erection, before she started working on his belt. Cisco stopped her. 

‘I’ll take care of this. You take care of yours.’

She was faster than him, took no time to take off the short jeans she was wearing and the leather jacket. Cait kept on the black tank top she was wearing, watching Cisco instead, watching him take off his pants and jacket. 

As soon as he was done, he kissed her again, pushing his hands on her chest this time, under her tank top and under her bra. She giggled. She legit giggled, which was a sound Killer Frost had never made.

He wanted her to go back to cursing. So Cisco kissed her to distract her, as he pushed his hand in her underwear.

‘Fuck.’, she breathed out, leaning her head back against the wall.

Cisco couldn’t help but grin. ‘That’s it.’

But then he actually moved his fingers between her folds, and it was his turn to curse.

‘Fuck.’, he pushed his forehead against her exposed neck. ‘Jesus fuck, how are you so wet?’

She grabbed his head until they were looking at each other.

‘Exactly how you’re so hard. Now get in me.’

Cisco whimpered, especially when her hands moved from the sides of his face down to his boxers. She pushed them down and Cisco helped her do the same. She grabbed at his shoulders, pulling their bodies together, wrapping her leg around his waist again.

They didn’t kiss, just looked at each other as Cisco guided himself inside of her. When he did, she gasped silently, blinking slowly at him. 

‘You alright?’, he whispered.

Cait nodded, kissing him quickly. ‘Move.’, she said between kisses.

So Cisco did. Slowly at first, but she kept urging him on, she kept whispering his name and pleading. Honestly, she was all but begging, so Cisco did not hold back.

He figured out a way to make it work, plant his feet, move fast but keep her up as well. It was working, because Cait was trembling against him, she had pushed her hands under his shirt and was holding on tightly, her cold fingers felt good against his heated skin. They were kissing, kind of, between their moans and curses.

Cisco didn’t think he’d ever fucked someone so roughly. He knew for sure he had never fucked someone in an alleyway, next to a pile of bodies, in the middle of a pool of blood.

He didn’t want to stop, he never wanted to let go of Cait. But he was getting close to his release, and she knew it, because she told him not to come in her. After a few more thrusts, Cisco pulled out quickly and turned his back to her, wrapping his fist around himself. Cait plastered herself to his back, wrapping her arms around his waist, pushing her fingers under his shirt and scratching the skin there.

She also talked into his ear, told him the things she wanted to do with him when they got to a bed. Needless to say, Cisco came quickly, and he came hard, with her name on his lips. 

He didn’t even catch his breath, he just quickly wiped his hand on his shirt and turned around, falling to his knees in front of Cait. She was surprised, but didn’t comment when he pushed her legs apart, pulled her hips away from the wall. It was easier to eat her out this way, Cisco was able to put his hands on her ass, keep her where he wanted.

She was enjoying herself, just as much as she did when he was inside of her, but it was clear that it wasn’t quite enough. So Cisco pushed two fingers into her, and that, combined with his tongue, that did it.

Cait came screaming his name, legs trembling and head bent back. When Cisco straightened up and looked at her, her eyes were flashing, between brown and Frost blue, which was another first. When they settled back on blue, she grabbed at Cisco’s shirt, pulling him toward her and kissing him a few times, quickly and surprisingly gentle. 

‘We need to find a place for the night.’, she whispered. ‘Someplace with a bed.’

‘My parents leave for the summer. We could totally trash their place, maybe steal some jewelry.’

Cait smiled. ‘You just wanna get laid in your childhood bed.’

‘No, but I do wanna get laid on my brother’s piano.’

Needless to say, she was all for that, so Cisco opened up a breach. 

◄◆►

Cisco startled awake, and he was confused. There was supposed to be blood on his hands, but there wasn’t any. Cait was supposed to be by his side, but she wasn’t.

He didn’t even think, he just opened a breach and ran through it, ran straight into her bedroom, startling her awake, calling her name desperately.

Next thing he knew, he was wrapped up in her arms, crying without abandon. She was saying things.

‘You’re safe.’

‘You’re on Earth 1.’

‘It’s June 22nd, 2018.’

‘You’re safe.’

‘You’re in my apartment.’

‘We’re safe.’

‘I’m here.’

Somehow, he managed to calm down. It took a long while, and she held him through it. When he stopped crying, she pushed him on the bed, layed next to him, still holding his hand.

‘You never called me Cait before.’, she whispered in the darkness. ‘What happened?’

He couldn’t tell her.

‘What did you see?’, she squeezed his fingers tightly. 

He was still a little confused. He knew what he saw wasn’t real for them, he knew the Frost and Vibe he saw were on Earth 18. He knew he was on Earth 1.

He knew he wasn’t together with Caitlin.

But he remembered a kiss, quick and short, stolen in an empty corner of Star Labs. He just didn’t know if it was them, or some other Caitlin and Cisco.

‘Did we kiss?’ He asked it without looking at her, and his voice shook.

Caitlin got up, sat down cross legged next to his hip. He still didn’t look at her, so she gently grabbed his cheek and forced him to meet her eye.

‘We kissed yesterday.’, she whispered around a smile. ‘After we helped Barry put the Riddler in Iron Heights, do you remember that?’

‘I do remember it.’, he tried to be reassuring. ‘Vividly.’

She snorted at that.

‘It’s just that I got confused on whether or not it was us or some other Caitlin and Cisco.’

‘It was us, I promise.’

He nodded, but Caitlin didn’t buy it.

‘Want me to prove it?’, she asked next, in a very playful manner. 

It made him feel better, sure, but it also made him hesitate. Just like he did last night. 

‘Cisco’, she said slowly, ‘we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.’

‘I want to.’, he said quickly, too quickly, because it made her smile fondly. ‘But maybe not tonight?’

‘That’s fine.’, Caitlin nodded, lying back down on the bed, but snuggling up to him. ‘But don’t think I’ll let you get away with not telling me what you saw.’

‘Wouldn’t have it any other way.’, Cisco said, evidently fond. ‘I’ll tell you, I promise, but just… not tonight.’

‘Is this okay for tonight?’, she squeezed him a little tighter.

He nodded at that, and they were silent for a while.

‘Cisco’, she whispered, ‘I don’t know how I feel about you calling me Cait.’

‘Oh, I’m never doing that again.’, he was quick to mumble. ‘Never ever again. You’re always and forever going to be Caitlin. Caitlin Snow, my BFF.’

She hummed. ‘Well, maybe not always and forever… that.’

Cisco gulped and blushed furiously when he realized what she meant. But Caitlin giggled, and suddenly, he was just as excited as he was before he went to bed.

Earth 18’s Killer Frost and Vibe, that wasn’t them. And thank fuck for that, because Cisco liked him and Caitlin a lot more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so fucking nervous to post this. Because I've never written anything quite this........evil.


	6. Established Relationship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five times Cisco says _I love you_ and one time Caitlin does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not used to writing established relationships so here have like 3k words of it  
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

◄◆One◆►

‘You know, when we started dating, I didn’t think this would be how we spent date night.’

Cisco mumbled it in a whisper, but Caitlin still heard him.

He was in the med lab of Star Labs, curled in on himself under a layer of blankets. The lights were completely off, all the monitors were shut down, Caitlin had only lit up a candle on the bedside table. 

Their latest evil metahuman came from Earth 51 and he shared Cisco’s powers so in order to get him, Cisco was their only weapon. He was stronger than his Earth 51 counterpart, but it took a lot out of him. 

A whole lot.

There was a saline solution dripping into Cisco’s veins, he was being pumped with the strongest painkillers Caitlin could get her hands on, and he still had a migraine. Hence the candlelight. He had also suffered a very mild heart attack, hence the overnight monitoring. 

But he was right, it was a Friday night and they were supposed to be on a date, a nice dinner, a movie that Cisco had been excited about. It was supposed to be their first real date. Even if they’ve been together for a few weeks, between work and exhaustion, mostly they just ordered food and cuddled on the couch.

She had been excited about finally going out with Cisco. But it didn’t matter anymore, now she was just glad Cisco was alive.

So Caitlin smiled at him, gave him a quick kiss that had him humming.

‘We’ll get other date nights, Cisco.’

‘Yeah’, he breathed out, ‘but tonight you’re stuck with me in a hospital bed, with the lights out. We can’t even watch some Netflix.’, he whined. ‘And I want fries.’

Caitlin pushed his hair away from his face. ‘I can order us some fries. And no, we can’t watch Netflix, but I got The Last Jedi audiobook. Would you be up for listening to that?’

Cisco’s eyes were very wide. ‘Man, I love you. Not only do you accept my geekiness, but you encourage it. Caitlin, you’re awesome.’

He was high on painkillers, that was the reason Caitlin didn’t acknowledge those three words. That, and the fact that it was too soon in their relationship for such declarations.

So Caitlin kissed him again, as sweetly and gently as she could. She also got them fries and after they ate, she snuggled next to Cisco on the bed, and they spent the night awake, listening to the Star Wars novel, pausing it often because he wanted to tell her something, a comment, more information about what was happening in the book.

… She found it terribly endearing.

◄◆Two◆►

They’ve been dating for a little over six months when Christmas time came around, Caitlin really shouldn’t have been surprised when Cisco asked her to go with him to dinner with his parents. They have been getting along a little better, after Dante’s death, Caitlin knew that. But she was surprised when Cisco asked her, because she thought he’d want to just spend time with his family. 

Still, of course she said yes. They were going to miss Joe’s party, but it wasn’t going to be much of a party, more like everyone fighting over who got to hold baby Jenna. Plus, they promised they’d all have breakfast together, so it was fine.

Caitlin put on a red dress and an easy smile, that only grew when Cisco came and picked her up. They were a little late, because Cisco said that Caitlin looked very nice and hella beautiful and he just had to kiss her for a minute or twelve.

When they finally got to his parent’s house, they were welcomed with open arms. Both his mother and his father hugged Caitlin, acting like they’ve known her for years, not like they only saw her once before at Dante’s birthday party a few years ago. 

Cisco had a very large family, uncles and aunts and cousins and a lot of children running around and teenagers yelling at the tv and it was a little overwhelming, meeting everyone, but he was always by Caitlin’s side, and she handled it.

Honestly, she enjoyed herself. The food was delicious and in enormous amounts, there was always a cup of mulled wine in her hand and the people were very nice towards her. Sure, she had to answer the question ‘So where did you meet Francisco?’ about a million times and ‘Where do you work, dear?’ only half as much, but it was okay.

At one point, Cisco got roped into playing Mario Kart with the kids, and Caitlin was left alone. She watched him for awhile, watched him scream his lungs out, acting like he was trying his hardest to win even if she knew he was letting the kids win. 

Caitlin wasn’t used to this, to huge families she couldn’t even keep track of. It was clear everyone cared about Cisco, and she was grateful for that, she was very grateful to the soft way his father was looking at him, the way his mother patted his hair down and kissed his forehead afterwards. 

‘Hey, you.’

Startled out of her thoughts, Caitlin looked to the person who came to her side. It was Rosario, one of Cisco’s cousins. She was in college, Caitlin remembered, studying art. Cisco liked her a lot, he had said that in the rundown he did of his family.

‘Hey, Rosario.’, she smiled.

‘Oh, call me Rosa. I was just gonna go outside for a smoke. Join me?’

Caitlin blinked. ‘I don’t smoke.’

‘Join me anyway.’

She didn’t leave any room for discussion, so Caitlin took her wine mug and put on her jacket and joined the younger woman on the back porch, sitting next to her on the steps.

‘So are you miserable, or…?’

Caitlin laughed. ‘No, definitely not. I’m just a little overwhelmed. I’m not really used to big families.’

‘Well you better get used to it.’, Rosa grinned. ‘I have a feeling you’re going to be around for a long while.’

She blushed at that, of course she did, but didn’t deny it. Caitlin and Cisco both knew, going into this, that it wasn’t just a passing thing. Their friendship was too precious to jeopardize for a fling, and neither of them were the type of people to do that. They cared about each other a lot, and they both knew they were in it for the long haul.

‘I know about Cisco.’, Rosa went on in a lowered voice. ‘About what he is.’

Caitlin stiffened at that.

‘I figured it out, I saw Vibe on tv once and it took me a while to believe it, but I... ‘, she shook her head. ‘He’s very powerful, isn’t he?’

Caitlin couldn’t deny that, so she nodded.

‘Don’t tell him I know.’, Rosa went on. ‘I know him, I know there are good reasons he hadn’t told us, and that’s fine, but… I’m worried.’

‘Cisco can take care of himself.’, Caitlin was quick to say. ‘And there are people who have his back, trust me on that.’

Rosa narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you… like him?’

Caitlin tilted her head. She knew Cisco cared a lot about Rosa, so she was probably trustworthy. And if it will ease the young woman’s mind, her secret identity revealed was a small price to pay. So Caitlin winked and froze the glass of juice Rosa was holding.

‘Oh.’, she blinked down at the glass. ‘Oh, holy shit.’

Caitlin snorted at that, making the other woman turn to look at her.

‘Now I get it.’

‘Get what?’, Caitlin frowned.

‘I didn’t think you were Cisco’s type. He always went for more… unhinged women. Rebels, outsiders.’

Caitlin just raised an eyebrow at that. 

‘Now I get it.’, Rosa smiled. ‘And i like it.’

‘Thanks.’, Caitlin drawled out. ‘But, in Cisco’s defence, this has been a long time coming, long before we got powers. Maybe not as far as when he was supposed to be my fiance’s best man at our wedding, and he didn’t get to do that because Ronnie died, but…’

‘Oh shit.’, Rosa put a hand over her mouth. It was adorable.

‘It was years ago and Cisco, he’s helped me get past it. Even before we got together, he helped me with that.’

‘I don’t need to say it, do I?’, Rosa said gently. ‘You know how much he cares about you.’

‘Yeah.’, Caitlin smiled. ‘I do know, and don’t worry, it goes both ways.’

‘Good. That’s all I wanted to know.’

Caitlin leveled her with a look. ‘How come you were assigned to give me the shovel talk? I was expecting Cisco’s mother or one of his uncles.’

Rosa laughed at that, loud and joyful. ‘Everyone was too afraid, to be honest. Cisco has never brought anyone home before, so this was big and clearly important to him. Add that to the way things have been after Dante…’, she shook her head. ‘And, honestly, this wasn’t a shovel talk. A shovel talk would have implied me threatening you with bodily harm if you hurt Cisco. I just wanted to make sure you had his back.’

By the end of her speech, Caitlin was smiling wildly. As she opened her mouth to say something, Cisco’s voice was heard loud and clear from inside the house.

‘Someone better not be smoking when I open this door in 10 seconds.’

10 seconds was more than enough for Rosa to throw away her cigarette. Still, Cisco narrowed his eyes when he stepped on the porch. 

‘It stinks.’

‘It was me.’, Caitlin was quick to say. ‘I just felt … like having a smoke, Rosa was keeping me company.’

‘Oh, honey.’, Cisco sighed. ‘While I love you for covering for Rosa, you don’t need to do that. Who do you think brought her first pack?’

They all laughed at that. Rosa went inside the house, but not before throwing Caitlin a wink. 

Cisco was looking at her with a lot of fondness in his eyes, and he didn’t waste any time before he hugged Caitlin, tightly. Once again, he had said those words. Once again, Caitlin didn’t think it was a right time to acknowledge them. So she kissed Cisco for a while, until one of the little kids came and got them because it was desert time.

◄◆Three◆►

Caitlin promised herself she wouldn’t repeat the karaoke night from hell with Barry, but here she was, and it was all Cisco’s fault.

To be fair, he also breached her home as soon as she started feeling sick and now he was holding her hair back as she emptied her stomach in the toilet.

‘Mami always said true love means holding her hair back when she throws up.’, Cisco said way too cheerfully.

‘She didn’t.’, Caitlin mumbled.

‘She totally did. Granted, she was talking about morning sickness, but it still applies.’

Caitlin was too drunk to argue with him.

◄◆Four◆►

When a metahuman with fire powers was wreaking havoc in Central City, the logical thought was that Killer Frost was going to go after him. Except no, because Barry and Cisco had other ideas. Bad ideas, stupid ideas, with a cold gun and shields and it was ridiculous, considering the power she had at her disposal.

They were adamant, so Caitlin stepped back and let them have at it. Of course, the plan didn’t work. Both of them came out singed out of the confrontation, even if the suits took most of the heat.

At that point, Caitlin stopped trying to make her point. Instead, she informed the boys that she will be going after the bad guy.

Cisco sighed, but he also put his jacket back on.

‘Caitlin, I love you and I respect the fact that you’re a powerful, independent superhero -’

‘Do you?’, she couldn’t help but sass.

‘But there is no way I’m going to let you go after the psycho on your own.’

It was the best she was going to get, so Caitlin nodded and told him to stand back. She defeated the metahuman, pretty easily, so they got back to her apartment before the middle of the night.

He had slept over before, they slept in the same bed, be it hers or his, most of the nights. They had slept together before, so many times Caitlin lost count, but it was somehow different that night.

Cisco was oddly attentive to her, he kept asking her what she wanted, and he did everything she liked and more. It was an apology, of sorts, whispered between her legs, and Caitlin didn’t really need it, but she enjoyed it immensely. 

◄◆Five◆►

It had been a very long week, spent in Star City, helping Oliver and his team get a truly awful bad guy.

When she got back home, Caitlin wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week. Still, she waited for Cisco to get next to her in bed, and she was surprised when she realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt. That didn’t usually happen.

‘I’m out of clean shirts.’, he muttered, bitterly. 

‘Sorry, I didn’t get to do laundry before we left.’

He snorted at that. ‘Yeah, well, it’s okay, cause you’re running low on clothes at my place, too.’

Cisco was clearly thinking something over, so Caitlin waited him out, closing her eyes but not falling asleep just yet. She didn’t have to wait for long.

‘It’s just such a hassle, isn’t it? Having a drawer at each other’s house and arguing over where we’re gonna spend the night and there’s food rotting away in my fridge because I haven’t gone home in a week and remember that time I forgot my electric razor here?’

‘You’re babbling, Cisco.’, she said around a smile. ‘What are you saying?’

‘I’m saying that if you were up for it, I would… really like us to move in together.’

Caitlin didn’t say anything just yet, she didn’t even open her eyes. So, of course, Cisco went back to babbling.

‘It doesn’t have to be my place, or yours. We could look for someplace new, you know, a fresh start. We could get a loft, like Iris and Barry or like, even a small house, if, you know, we find something we like. I mean, we don’t have to, if you don’t want, it’s just an idea and-’

He cut himself off when Caitlin opened her eyes and turned around to watch him, fully.

‘I love you.’, Cisco whispered, blushing furiously. ‘I really, really do love you and I’d like to take this step. Together, with you.’

It was the first time he had said those words to her without throwing them for artistic effect. It wasn’t the first time he had meant them, Caitlin knew. She wanted to say them back, had been meaning to say them for a while, but this… was Cisco’s moment. He was the one who had gathered enough strength to ask the question, to say  _ I love you _ . Caitlin didn’t think the words coming out of her mouth will have enough meaning, now.

So, instead, she kissed Cisco. Slow and gently, pouring all the love she felt for him in it, all the happiness he made her feel, all the excitement. All the amusement and all the contempt.

When she pulled away, Caitlin pushed herself as close to Cisco as she could, getting comfortable and snuggling up to him. 

‘I wouldn’t mind a little garden.’, she whispered.

Cisco gasped, silently. ‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah. We’d need parking space for both of our cars, though.’

‘I’m sure we can swing that.’

‘Tomorrow, though.’, she yawned. ‘Sleep now.’

‘Sleep now.’, he agreed. He kissed her again, though, just a quick thing. 

◄◆Plus One◆►

The first morning in their house, Caitlin woke up terribly late. It took the better part of a week to move in, and it was an exhausting process, which had just ended the night before. They fell asleep very quickly, Cisco mumbling about how they were supposed to have sex but he was too exhausted for it, and Caitlin chuckling lightly before sleep took over her.

Cisco was awake, still in bed next to her, back against the headboard, reading off his tablet. He only had a pair of boxers on, same as Caitlin, because summer had finally arrived, and Central City was caught in the middle of a heat wave.

He had his glasses on, too lazy to put his contacts in yet, and there was a cup of coffee on his nightstand, that was still steaming. He looked so cozy, so beautiful even if his hair was a mess and his glasses were askew, and there were beads of sweat on his chest.

They’ve been together for a little over two years. They had signed a mortgage for the house they moved into, a house that had too many bedrooms for just the two of them, a perfect place in the backyard for a swingset, a fireplace in the living room and a garden where Cisco had already planted roses for her.

Caitlin loved this man with all of her heart and even if he knew it, he deserved to hear it.

When she started moving, Cisco said a cheerful ‘Morning, babe!’, but it was clear that he was very invested in what he was reading, considering his eyes barely left the tablet.

It didn’t stop her from getting up and straddling his legs. His eyes did lift up to hers, then, and he quickly put the tablet down, along with his glasses. He put his hands on her waist and said ‘Morning, babe!’ again, but in a different way, a softer and more heated way.

Caitlin kissed him, first. Slow and gentle, lazily like a Sunday morning should be. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her to him until their chests were pressed together, but he didn’t deepen the kiss, he let her dictate the rhythm.

‘I love you.’, she whispered against his lips. She moved to kiss him again, but it didn’t work too well, considering Cisco was frozen in place.

She looked to him, saw his wide eyes and slack jaw, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Don’t be so shocked, Cisco, you knew that.’

‘Well, yeah, but it’s still nice to hear.’

‘I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.’

He shook his head, going back to hugging her, pressing his cheek on her chest. ‘It’s okay, I knew it. You were right, I did know it. It shouldn’t matter if you say it or not, as long as it’s true.’

Caitlin smiled. ‘I love you.’

‘Yeah, okay, it is nice to hear, I’ll admit it.’

‘I love you very much.’

‘Don’t overdo it.’, Cisco warned, but there was humor in his tone.

‘I love you so fucking much.’

He started laughing at that, but when he looked up at her, there was a blush high on his cheeks.

‘Caitlin, really now, I-’

‘I love you.’

He blinked, twice, before he smirked. ‘I know.’

She should have expected that. When Caitlin rolled her eyes, Cisco started snickering. She shut him up with a kiss and easily reminded him that they were almost naked and had no plans for the rest of the day.


	7. Friends to Lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes a week from Hell for Cisco to realize Caitlin isn’t just a friend anymore.

On an unassuming Monday morning, Cisco woke up a full hour before his alarm was set to go off, which made him instantly grumpy. He had leftover pizza for breakfast, drank some of his least favorite coffee pods because he was out of the rest and without anything productive to do at home, he made his way to work, knowing he was going to be the only one there.

Nothing short of a miracle, Caitlin was already in the Cortex. Before Cisco even got to say good morning, there was an alarm, a robbery in progress at a bank downtown.

As Caitlin called Iris and Barry, Cisco got out their suits. They changed in the Cortex, back to back, as quickly as they could. The West-Allens did not pick up the phone, and the police chatter said there were hostages, including a pregnant woman, so of course, Cisco opened up a breach and Frost followed him.

They got the hostages out first, because the robbers were dumb enough to lock them in a side office. So Cisco breached them out quickly, as Frost was keeping her senses tuned in to the heat signatures on the other side of the door. 

She was out for blood, Cisco had noticed. Not literally, she didn’t do that anymore, but she was excited about the upcoming fight. Clearly, Frost had been bored. 

‘Don’t go crazy.’, he whispered to her before they went out of the office.

She didn’t answer, just grinned, with her tongue stuck out in the corner of her mouth, and winked, very flirty, at him. Cisco sighed, and followed her out.

They dealt with the robbers quickly enough, but honestly, Cisco didn’t do much. Frost didn’t let him do much, she had all the fun. Which was fine by him, really, he wasn’t actually a fan of all the violence that came with the job.

But once the fight was over and the robbers were handed over to the cops, Cisco did all the talking. All the cops in the city were on a first name basis with Vibe by now, but there were still a couple of them who were eyeing Frost suspiciously, so Cisco usually handed the PR.

Once he was done with that, Frost was looking at him… in a way. He couldn't explain it because he didn’t know what it meant, he just knew that it made him feel kind of uncomfortable.

‘What?’, he asked gruffly.

Her lips twitched up, before she slowly ran her tongue on her upper lip. It made him feel twice as uncomfortable.

‘Nothing, Vibe Babe.’, she kept on smirking. ‘Come on, take me home.’

Cisco did open up a breach back to the Cortex, but as Frost stepped into it, he mouthed  _ Vibe Babe _ , incredulously, behind her back. 

‘Boy, you’re in trouble.’, one of the cops close by told him. Cisco frowned deeply. 

◄◆►

She left the Cortex as Frost and came back as Caitlin, a very troubled Caitlin.

‘Uh-oh.’, Cisco made his way to her side. ‘You’ve got a face on, what’s up?’

‘I’m sorry.’, Caitlin started. ‘I don’t know what happened, but I know Frost did something bad-’

‘She didn’t.’, he cut her off. ‘She took out the robbers, did all the work, actually, but nobody was  _ too  _ hurt.’

‘No, I mean…’, Caitlin was blushing furiously. ‘I know she did something bad… towards you.’

Cisco just blinked at her for a long while. She was feeling very bad, it was clear, she was blushing and not meeting his gaze. Really, there was no need for that.

‘I don’t know what Frost told you in her little love notes’, Cisco said slowly, ‘but she didn’t do anything. I mean she flirted, a little, but it was pretty harmless.’

Caitlin gulped. ‘Does she do that a lot?’

Cisco shrugged. She did do it a lot, and it made him feel uncomfortable, sometimes, but that was all she did, Frost never actually tried anything with him. He didn’t say all that out loud, considering Caitlin looked like she was in the middle of a guilt trip.

But she did straighten her back, determination sparking in her eyes. ‘I’ll talk to her.’

‘You don’t need to, it’s fine.’

‘No, I’m definitely going to talk to her.’

He let it go, knowing that when Caitlin got something in her head, there was no turning her.

◄◆►

Cisco needed something from her lab, he didn’t think twice before barging in. She wasn’t there, which didn’t matter, he knew exactly what drawer he needed.

There was a post-it on it, clearly from Frost.

_ Cait, sweetheart, if you don’t jump on the Vibe train, I will. xx _

Cisco frowned. Vibe train? Vibe  _ train _ ? What the fuck did that mean?

Oh. Fuck.  _ Fuck _ . She meant… fucking. He ran out of there and barely looked at Caitlin for the rest of the day.

◄◆►

Tuesday found Cisco studying Caitlin. He was stealthy about it, didn’t look at her when she could see, never said anything he didn’t need to even if he listened closely to every word she said, every infliction of her tone, especially when she was talking to Cisco.

He felt foolish about it, because he wasn’t sure what he was searching for.

Well, no, he knew that he was looking for any sign that Caitlin saw him as more than a friend and it was such a ridiculous thought. Absolutely ridiculous, they’ve known each other for years and there has never been anything like that passing between them. Not once, not ever. 

Why did he think it was a possibility now? Why did he think Caitlin would magically change his opinion of him after all this time?

Just cause of a stupid little note from Killer Frost?

Cisco was being completely stupid about this and he low-key hated himself for it.

But then…

But then Caitlin complimented his shirt. 

Which was… what? It… 

He looked good, Cisco knew that. The shirt was a forest green color that looked good against his skin and brought the little green he had in his eyes, and it was a nice fit on him, just a little tight around his chest, just enough to remind everyone he actually had a chest, not man boobs. So yeah, Cisco looked good, but that didn’t mean Caitlin had any business telling him that!

She never did that before! Well, no, she did that sometimes, when he wore a fancy suit or a an extra funny shirt. But Caitlin looked like she really meant it this time, like she wasn’t just being polite. She said it softly, smiling gently at him with a twinkle in her eyes. She even went as far as running her fingers quickly over his arm.

Cisco felt like… he was back in highschool and a pretty girl asked him for homework. 

Which was absolutely idiotic and ridiculous and he had to push his face into the freezer to make his blush go down. Barry was patiently waiting by his side.

‘Tell me I’m going crazy.’, Cisco asked of him.

‘You’re going crazy.’, Barry didn’t hesitate. ‘Why are you going crazy?’

‘Because I totally just hallucinated what happened in the Cortex.’

‘What? Caitlin complimenting your shirt?’, Barry chuckled. ‘That totally happened, dude.’

‘Yes, that happened. What didn’t happen was the way she looked at me, the way she talked to me, the way she … touched me!’, Cisco was freaking out. ‘That didn’t happen, that totally didn’t happen, I hallucinated it. It’s the only explanation, my brain just went to Crazy Land and I hallucinated it.’

Barry nodded, grabbing Cisco’s shoulder. ‘Well if you hallucinated it, then I’ve been hallucinating it for months.’

‘No.’, Cisco whispered, looking at his friend with large eyes.

‘Yeah.’, Barry smiled. ‘Cait’s been looking at you like that for months. I don’t know how you missed it.’

Cisco knew Barry wasn’t lying and he had no idea what to do with the information.

◄◆►

Wednesday morning found Cisco absolutely exhausted.

He had spent the night awake thinking about Caitlin and nothing else. Methodically, he had went back through every memory he had of her, every moment they shared, from the Shirt Debacle that day, to shaking her hand in Star Labs his first day at work. And then he went through every moment again, chronologically, from first to last, analyzing everything, analyzing everything Caitlin said and did, from this new perspective.

Somehow, Cisco managed to keep his own feelings at bay. What feelings?, one might ask. He didn’t think about them, so he had no idea. He pushed everything down, got his brain working, and focused on Caitlin.

They have always been close, since the start, and over time, there have been moments, very distinctive moments, that made them bond even more. The particle accelerator explosion, Ronnie’s funeral. Defeating Reverse Flash, Caitlin being kidnapped by Zoom. Dante’s death.

But Barry had been right, and Cisco was able to pinpoint the exact moment Caitlin started acting differently with him. And it wasn’t really a moment with Caitlin, it was a moment with Killer Frost.

During the fight with Savitar, when Killer Frost helped them get back Barry’s memories, Cisco had said something to her.  _ I think about all the memories I cherish most, and you’re in every single one of them, Caitlin _ .

At that time, Cisco didn’t realize his words would have such impact. He hoped, he said the truth, unaltered and painfully real, but didn’t really think it would work. It did, he got through to Caitlin, got through to Frost, and in the end, she had helped them against Savitar.

Caitlin told him, later, that it was his doing. Much later, after the months she spent away, after she had settled back in on the team, she told him one night. That if it weren’t for him, they would still have been fighting Killer Frost.

He felt good, hearing it at that time, but now Cisco realized he had missed a lot of things, then.

He had missed the way Caitlin looked at him, the love in her eyes, the grateful way she regarded him. The way she hugged him very tightly, lingering with her cheek pressed to his.

Everything changed after that night. Cisco had been blind and did not see it, but it did. The way Caitlin felt about him changed, as did the way she acted towards him. It was just little things, a smile here, a touch there, more nights spent together, more hugs, but the changes were there, and now Cisco was aware of them.

So, yeah, he was exhausted come Wednesday morning. He had a light bulb moment, sure, but he was so tired. And the moment he laid eyes on Caitlin, he had realized his mistake.

Cisco had spent all night thinking about her, when he really should have been thinking about himself. But he did not do that, and now here he was, staring at Caitlin, his heart going crazy in his chest. And he had no idea what his feelings were.

Absolutely no idea.

‘Hey, Cisco.’, Caitlin smiled warmly, before frowning. ‘Are you alright?’

‘Yeah, no, yeah.’, he said quickly. ‘I just had a rough night.’

Her lips turned down at that. ‘Do you want me to make you some coffee or give you a sedative?’

Cisco snorted. ‘I can make my own coffee.’

‘Well too bad, cause I’m gonna make you coffee.’ She said it cheerfully, clicking her heels on the floor as she passed by him on her way to the kitchen. Caitlin took a moment to quickly kiss his cheek, barely there, fleeting and playful and Cisco…

Was in trouble. He was definitely in trouble.

‘You okay, buddy?’, Barry whispered, trying not to laugh.

Cisco shook his head, threatened to mess with Barry’s suit and power walked to his lab, where he spent most of the day. Thankfully, everyone figured out something was wrong and left him alone.

◄◆►

Thursday found Cisco waking up at noon. He had been exhausted when he went to bed last night, falling asleep as soon as his cheek hit the pillow, but he didn’t really expect to sleep this long.

His phone had several texts, everyone freaking out and thinking he got kidnapped. But Barry apparently flashed to his place, saw that he was asleep and let him be. The last text was from Caitlin, who urged him to get some rest and not bother coming into work that day.

Cisco took her advice, but after he showered and ate some food, he felt pretty well rested, he didn’t need to go back to sleep. So he got his headphones, got an iced coffee and headed to the park, where he lied down in the grass with a chill playlist on. He closed his eyes and finally let his feelings push through.

It… was a no brainer, really. Cisco had loved Caitlin for a long, long time. Through it all, through everything they’ve been through, she had been in his heart. She was all but buried there, by now, deep inside of Cisco, locked away in a tower with rows and rows of defences surrounding her. 

There was nothing that was going to take Caitlin away from his heart. There was nothing in this world and all the rest that would make Cisco love her any less. 

He wasn’t in love with her. He was pretty sure about that.

But the no brainer part was that he could easily fall in love with her.  _ So easily _ . It would only take a small jump.

He wasn’t ready to take that jump. Cisco didn’t think he was ready to take the fall, take initiative, ask Caitlin out on a date. Those words sounded very weird in his head. He wasn’t brave enough for them, not just yet.

Cisco wanted to be, though. 

◄◆►

He got to work on Friday on time and when Caitlin hugged him instead of saying ‘Good morning.’, Cisco didn’t freak out. His heart beat a little faster, but he didn’t freeze up or act like an idiot. He even hugged her back, and it was fine.

The rest of the day was fine too, but come 5PM, everything went to shit, and it went to shit fast.

An alien ship landed in Central City. Flash, Frost and Vibe got there quickly, and their initial assessment wasn’t that bad. It was just one alien dude, speaking in Kryptonian. That part was mildly alarming, because Earth 1 wasn’t supposed to have any connection to that planet for a couple of more years, but what the alien was saying was even more alarming. End of the world, brought by his hands, blabla.

Cisco was bored by how many times he had heard that one before. But this dude had all of Supergirl’s powers, and the fight was quickly turning to shit.

Everything happened so fast. One moment, the alien was up in the air and Cisco was trying to vibe his ass back down, the next moment Frost was screaming, two laser beams aimed at her stomach.

Everything happened so fast. One moment, Frost was screaming in pain and falling to the ground, the next moment Cisco was screaming in rage and aiming all of his power into the alien’s chest.

Cisco didn’t know there was so much power in him. He didn’t know he could vibrate every single bone in a Kryptonian’s body into little pieces. He didn’t know he could scream so loudly.

The alien fell back to Earth in a heap. It looked terribly unnatural and Cisco couldn’t fucking care less.

He ran to Frost’s side, falling on his knees next to her. The front of her suit was completely ruined, it was still smoking and the smell of burned leather was heavy in Cisco’s nose. 

The smell of burnt flesh was worse. She had two large wounds in her stomach, bleeding badly.

‘I’m fine.’, her icy voice shook, as did his.

‘You’re not fine.’

‘I’m gonna be fine.’, she countered, stubbornly.

‘You need a hospital.’, Barry said.

‘No, hell no.’, Frost shook her head. 

Cisco knew better than to argue with her.

‘Then we need to get you back to the lab, clean the wound, stop the bleeding.’ He met her eyes. ‘This is gonna hurt.’

‘Obviously.’, she rolled her eyes.

You had to give Killer Vibe credit. She was bleeding out, but she was still sarcastic as hell. And as Cisco gathered her in his arms after opening a breach, even if the movement clearly caused her pain, she didn’t say anything. She gritted her teeth and pushed her fingers into Cisco’s jacket, but she did not let out a sound.

Things calmed down once they got to Star Labs. Barry was still on site, dealing with the dead body and the police, but Iris was quick to come to Cisco’s aid. 

As gently as they could, they took off Frost’s ruined jacket, but there was no way they would be able to get off the tank top she had underneath. So Cisco cut it off. 

‘Eyes up here, Vibe Babe.’, Frost said somewhat cheekily.

‘No, eyes on the gaping wounds on your stomach.’, he easily countered. He really did not care about what type of bra she was wearing. He felt absolutely nothing sexual as he unzipped her pants and pushed them down to her hips.

‘Shit.’, Iris whispered.

Cisco looked up to her. ‘I’m gonna need you to keep your cool.’

Frost snorted, of course she did. He ignored her, asking Iris to get what he needed, as he set up the work station.

‘I need a gag or I’m gonna lose my voice screaming’, Frost said, making Cisco wince.

‘Are painkillers going to work on you?’

She shook her head. ‘The healing factor makes me run through them too quickly. You can’t knock me out either. They’d work on Cait, but I don’t…’

She didn’t go on, closing her eyes. Cisco grabbed her hand.

‘I don’t want to have her go through this. Not again.’

It was whispered, which in Killer Frost language meant it was the truth. Cisco gave her a roll of gauze to bite on. 

The process was slow, Cisco taking his time on each of the wounds. He used tweezers to get the residue from her shirt out, he used a lot of disinfectant, probably too much, and he took a lot of time to properly wrap up the wounds. 

At the end of it, Iris offered to get Frost a shirt, but she said a blanket will be a lot easier. As Iris got that, and as she probably updated Barry, Frost stopped Cisco from walking away from the bed.

‘I’m not her, you know. I’m not Caitlin.’

‘I know that.’, he frowned. ‘Trust me, it’s pretty obvious.’

‘Yeah?’, she raised a judgemental eyebrow. ‘Then why are you looking at me like I’m the most important thing in the Multiverse?’

He looked away at that, of course he did. There was a dark hole in the middle of his stomach too, even if it was not visible. Ever since he heard Frost scream that first time, the moment his brain realized that she was hurt, that Caitlin’s body was hurt, Cisco had been terrified.

It wasn’t the first time this terrible feeling settled inside of Cisco’s stomach, chest, heart, everywhere. But the last time it happened, he had lost Caitlin. She had died, Killer Frost came to life, Cisco had lost her.

He couldn’t do that now. He couldn’t live through that again, not now when he was just starting to figure his feelings out, not now when he truly believed Caitlin was doing the same. Not now, but not ever.

‘It’s okay, you know.’, Frost said in a surprisingly gentle tone. ‘She feels the same about you.’

Cisco managed to look at her, and of course she was smirking.

‘And I don’t care.’, she went on. ‘I mean Cait has been going on and on about consent and all that, but I don’t care. I’d never remember it and even if I did’, she winked at him, ‘I wouldn’t mind it, you’re pretty hot. Her and I share a body, sure, but-’

‘You know this isn’t just about sex.’, he cut her off. ‘If Caitlin and I take this step, it’s not going to be just for sex.’

‘Oh, I know.’, she snorted. ‘I hear the church bells ringing already.’

‘I’m serious, Frost. If we do this, then both of us are gonna be it for as long as possible, with the possibility of forever. Where does that leave you?’

She smiled, slowly. ‘Awh, Vibe Babe, I didn’t know you cared.’

He rolled his eyes, but when he looked back at her, he didn’t deny it.

‘Don’t make me an excuse.’, Frost said, serious at last. ‘She’s been doing that for a while now. I’ll be very happy when you two finally get together, trust me on that. And I don’t need anybody… separately. You have my word on that.’

Oddly enough, he believed her. Which meant that Cisco really had no excuse anymore. He let out a shaky breath, which made Frost go back to smirking.

‘You still have some time to figure it out. I’m not gonna let Cait back until I’m fully healed.’

Cisco nodded at that, but couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t look at Frost either, but he did force himself to say the words out loud.

‘Are you sure? That Caitlin would want it? Would… want me?’

‘Yes.’ She didn’t hesitate, not one second. ‘She’s been wanting you for… as long as I can remember, actually.’

He felt hope at that, a lot of hope. It must have shown on his face, because Frost rolled her eyes and yelled at him to leave her alone to rest.

◄◆►

Cisco spent the night at Star Labs, taking care of Frost. She was very adamant and rude, saying that he didn’t need to do that, but she didn’t actively throw him out.

By noon on Saturday, the wounds were fully healed, the skin on her stomach an angry shade of red, but Frost said nothing hurt anymore and she was alright with letting Caitlin come back. 

She freaked out, and it took Cisco awhile to explain what happened, calm her down, assure her that Frost didn’t unleash hell and that she was going to be okay. Of course, Caitlin had to check for herself, which implied her standing half naked in front of a mirror as Cisco tried not to stare.

His brain was an stupid machine. He had absolutely no problem when Frost was half naked in front of him, but now that it was Caitlin he was having a minor meltdown.

‘I need a shower.’, she finally said. ‘And I’m hungry.’

‘I’ll get you home.’, he opened a breach.

‘How do you feel about ordering some sushi?’

‘Oh, I’m staying?’, Cisco yelped, a little, making Caitlin look at him with a confused frown.

‘If you want.’

With a deep breath, he followed Caitlin into the breach.

◄◆►

Cisco managed to calm himself down as Caitlin showered, and by the time they sat on the couch and argued what to watch, he managed to act normal. Throughout the day and a Star Trek movie marathon, Cisco was fine.

Completely fine.

She had absolutely no idea anything was different.

Cisco felt proud of himself, so of course, it got thrown out the window as he was getting ready to leave.

‘Hey, are you okay?’, Caitlin asked gently. ‘You just seem a little off.’

He panicked, but he dealt with it. ‘You almost died, you know. Allow me the small freak out.’

‘Yes, alright.’, she chuckled, music to his ears. ‘But I’m fine. It won’t even scar that badly.’

‘I know that, but, like… I really hate it when you get hurt.’

‘I know that feeling.’, she sighed, deeply. She also opened her arms and mouthed ‘Come here.’

Cisco knew how hugging Caitlin felt. It felt warm and safe, and that hadn’t changed with his revelation. The only thing that changed was the way Cisco had to kiss her temple before he detached himself.

◄◆►

Sunday was a day for bad decision making.

It started off with Cisco eating Nutella straight from the jar for breakfast, getting a double shot coffee from Jitters and heading to Star Labs way too early in the morning. Nobody was there, of course, and nobody was going to come in on a Sunday save for a metahuman apocalypse. That didn’t happen, so Cisco continued on the bad decision making train and worked on a few projects that would have made Caitlin and Iris yell at him. 

The evening continued with a series of bad decisions made by Cisco, at the bar with the team. These decisions took the form of tequila shots, rum and coke glasses and something very fruity that tasted like coffee.

He got drunk, there’s no denying that. 

He was drunker than Caitlin was, Cisco realized on the cab ride home. She was talking a lot, which was a sign of her being tipsy, but she was making sense with what she was saying, whereas Cisco could barely hold a sentence.

Still, he tried.

‘Not now, I know not now, but we talk. We… should talk.’

‘What about?’, Caitlin frowned at him. It was terribly cute. So cute.

‘Not now.’, he maybe said it a little too loudly, because she winced. 

He lowered his voice. ‘Not now. Tomorrow. We need to talk tomorrow because I’m gonna explode if I don’t talk.’

It might have been the alcohol talking, but Cisco truly felt that he will burst with the fire of 1000 suns if he went another day without Caitlin knowing how he felt.

‘Should I be worried?’, she placed her hand on his and he was very quick to grab it tightly.

‘No. Yes. No, worried?’ He took a deep breath and tried again. ‘It’s not bad, but I’m gonna mess it up.’

Caitlin smiled at that, all sweetly and glowy in the back of the dodgy cab. 

‘It’ll be fine, Cisco. Whatever it is.’

It was definitely the alcohol, but he believed her, instantly. So he kissed her cheek before he left the cab. Maybe he missed and hit the corner of her mouth, but he couldn’t be sure.

◄◆►

Monday morning came with a massive hangover and Cisco throwing up first thing after he woke up. After a shower and some crackers, he felt almost passable as human.

But then he got to Star Labs and his eyes met Caitlin’s, the night before and the cab conversation coming back to him in a violent manner. And… nope. Human Cisco? No, he didn’t know that person.

He ran to his workshop, shamefully so, and it worked for a couple of hours.

Caitlin came and found him, of course she did. She smiled at him fondly, even brought him a fresh cup of coffee. She moved around some of the stuff that were loitering the desk he was working on, clearing up a space and lifting herself up on it. Caitlin didn’t usually do that, it was probably the first time Cisco had seen her sitting on a table and he found it terribly adorable. So he didn’t try to run away again, looking up at her from his place on the chair.

‘Do you remember last night?’, she seemed a little amused.

Cisco nodded.

‘Are you up for that talk now?’

He shook his head.

Caitlin huffed, clearly trying not to roll her eyes. ‘But you said you were going to explode, we can’t have that.’

She was teasing, which was fine, actually, because if she wasn’t freaking out, that meant Cisco will freak out less. But she will definitely freak out once he started talking and he wasn’t so sure he wanted to go through with it now.

He was scared, plain and simple, because this had the power to make them or break them. And as he told her last night, there was a high chance Cisco was going to screw up, somehow. 

‘Hey’, she said gently, ‘it’s going to be okay.’

‘You don’t know that.’, he was quick to counter.

‘I think I do. I think I have a vague idea of what you want to talk about.’

That made Cisco falter, pretty badly. He looked at her with wide eyes.

She smiled. ‘Frost has been leaving some very unusual notes, but I think I managed to understand what she was saying.’

Cisco got real angry, real fast. He cursed Frost under his breath, in Spanish, no less, but all Caitlin had to do was grab his hand, and he shut up. He also looked, kind of helplessly at her, because he had no idea what to say. Where to start and where to finish.

‘You know, I’ve been thinking about this for a while.’, Caitlin smiled, her cheeks a little red. ‘About us. I wasn’t going to say anything.’

‘Why not?’

She shrugged. ‘I didn’t think you felt the same. But something changed in the past week, hasn’t it?’

‘It did and it didn’t.’, Cisco admitted. ‘My feelings haven’t changed, I just realized I had them.’

There was hope in her eyes, a glimmer of it, and that was what made Cisco finally take the jump.

‘Is this something we can really do?’, there was desperation in his tone, but he did nothing to hide it. ‘Because I’m feeling a lot of things, yeah, and they’re mostly nice and exciting and… warm, but I’m also scared. What if we won’t… work… like that? What if I screw up? What if you screw up?’

‘What if we don’t?’, she countered gently. 

‘I’m scared of that, too.’

Caitlin chuckled at that. ‘I get it, Cisco, really I do. I’m scared, too, I am, but I’m also…’, she shook her head. ‘I’m not the type of person who doesn’t do things because she’s afraid, not anymore.’

He nodded at that, understanding what she was saying.

‘And’, she squeezed his fingers, ‘I want this, Cisco. I want to be with you.’

‘Oh, god.’, he whispered. If he had any doubt about what they were talking about, it was all gone now that she had said it loud and clear. 

Upon seeing his hesitation, Caitlin moved to take her hand away. ‘If you don’t want that-’

‘I do.’, he grabbed her hand in both of his. ‘I promise I do, Caitlin, I do want you.’

She went back to smiling at that. ‘We don’t have to rush into this. I mean, we can totally take it slow.’

‘Yeah.’, he nodded quickly. ‘Yeah, okay, we can do that. So uh… dinner tonight?’

‘That sounds nice.’, Caitlin whispered, still smiling. ‘Real nice.’

They just stood there for a moment, holding hands, smiling like idiots at each other. Which, of course, was the moment an alarm sounded. With a deep sigh, they went to work.

◄◆►

Barry handled the alarm by himself, meaning that Frost and Vibe stayed back and did not make an appearance. It also meant that they actually managed to go out to dinner that evening. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a burger place they both liked but didn’t go to very often because it was at the very edge of town.

It didn’t really feel like a date. It was a nice evening, sure, and they talked easily, ate good food, made each other laugh. But Cisco… there weren’t butterflies in his chest, like he usually felt on a first date. He wasn’t anxious, he didn’t babble like an idiot, he didn’t spend most of the time blushing.

While it was a nice feeling, to be so calm on a first date, it also made Cisco feel a lot of doubt about what they were going to be doing next, about how a real relationship was going to work between them.

Caitlin knew him well. Too well.

In front of her apartment door, when they were supposed to say goodbye for the night, she leveled him with a look. She held his hand, sure, but she also leveled him with a superior, knowing look.

‘You think this was too easy.’

Cisco winced, but didn’t even try to deny it. 

‘You’re right.’, she snorted, making him stare at her. ‘This didn’t feel like a date, it just felt like… normal us, right?’

He nodded. ‘Have you ever been on a first date where you didn’t feel anxious? Cause I didn’t.’

‘You’re right.’, she said again. ‘But we’ve known each other for a long time, I think it’s a good thing that we’re so comfortable around one another.’

Well, when she put it like that, it did make sense. ‘Maybe you’re right.’, Cisco smiled. 

‘Honey’, she teased, ‘I’m always right. But, coincidentally, you are also right in this situation.’

‘I am?’, he was very surprised.

Caitlin hummed, smirking knowingly. ‘Yes, you’re right in thinking that a first date shouldn’t feel like just another night out, just another dinner like the billions we shared before.’

‘Right.’, he said slowly because he was still a little confused. 

‘It’s an easy fix, Cisco.’, she laughed a little. ‘It’s a really easy fix.’

He still didn’t get it. It made Caitlin laugh, a gentle sound. She moved terribly quickly, grabbed his jacket with her hands and pulled him towards her, kissing him square on the lips. It was a nice kiss, slow and gentle, Caitlin’s mouth barely opening against his.

But it was also an explosion. Everything Cisco hadn’t felt during dinner, it came crashing down on him now. Excitement, anxiousness, love, fear, arousal. There were butterflies in his chest, he didn’t know what to do with his hands, he felt his face burning up and he wanted to never stop.

Never. Ever. Stop.

She did stop, though, licking her lips before opening her eyes. There was a sparkle in them, something terribly excited, which Cisco wasn’t used to Caitlin directing at him. He could get used to it, though. 

‘Better?’, Caitlin asked as sarcastically as she could.

It was the sarcasm that did it. Cisco got payback for it, by wrapping his arms around Caitlin’s waist and kissing her with no hesitation anymore, and no abandon either. 

Making out with your best friend against her apartment door on a Monday night should feel both calm and exciting, Cisco thought. Or, at least, he should feel exactly as he did, with Caitlin in his arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> It is done. It has been fun. Thank you for reading, my dears. I hope you enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them.


End file.
